


CRIMSON

by INTRVGALACTIC



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Angst, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, F/M, Miscarriage, PoC, Queen of the Damned, Romance, Sleeping Beauty Elements, Twilight Renaissance, Vampires, Werewolves, cindykimberly, hellyeahminorities, woc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:26:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 44,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INTRVGALACTIC/pseuds/INTRVGALACTIC
Summary: ❝ 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗔 𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗥𝗬𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗘-𝗜𝗠 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗔 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗨𝗘𝗗𝗕𝗬 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗖𝗞 𝗙𝗢𝗢𝗟 ❞after a series of tragedies in 17-year-old rory aden's life, she finds herself moving halfway across the country in the middle of her junior year from the bustling city of san antonio, texas to the quiet and tranquil small town of forks. she quickly accepts her new life and manages to make several friends, including her neighbor bella swan. however, the only person who seems to inexplicably hate rory is the very same person she's found herself helplessly intrigued by.jasper hale is an enigma, a mysterious and aloof being, who is also hiding secrets just as dark as rory aden.fighting both their dark desires and pasts, only one question can transpire from this pair of lost souls-the question is; what, or who, will bleed first?
Relationships: Jasper Hale/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	1. FORKS

**PART 1**

_twilight_

❝it is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor❞ -g. b. shaw

:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

GREEN. 

That was all Rory Aden could see for miles and miles on end as she leaned her head against the car window. From the grass to the trees that were even covered in green moss, it was like entering a secret world. She had never seen the brilliant color saturating the terrain so much before in her life, the endless hue of life and nature offered her comfort from the landscape of death and tragedy she had escaped from. 

The 17-year-old girl had exhausted all possible hollow attempts to occupy her mind, blasting music in her ears, reading, and sketching; which resorted her to blankly stare at the sea of trees as her mother drove them to their new home. The breathtaking views offered her a stable comfort throughout the hour and a half drive from the small Port Angeles airport, which was the nearest city to their destination of Forks, Washington. 

The small town was home to a population of exactly 3,120 people—and now Rory and Stella Aden. 

The further they drove into town, the more convinced the family of two were that they had made the right decision. As far as the eye could tell, like most of the state of Washington region, Forks was like an oasis in a sea of endless green; if an oasis consisted of three total intersections, two local grocery stores, and no shopping mall in a twenty-mile radius. There were no towering skyscrapers or franchise stores with bright fluorescent signs. Life was profoundly ordinary and quiet. 

It was perfect. 

At one of the two stoplights in town, Rory watched as a group of teenagers helped an elderly woman who had dropped a paper bag of groceries. Once the people noticed the unfamiliar car, they waved to Rory and her mother welcomely before parting with smiles as the light turned green. 

Everyone knew everyone, had grown up with the same people, and cared for one another as a community in a way Rory had only imagined happened in books and movies and tv shows. It was a drastic change from the bright lights and fast-paced lifestyle of the busy streets of San Antonio, Texas, but it was a welcomed one too. 

As far as Rory was concerned, Forks was her home for the unforeseeable future. 

"Well, this is it.” Stella Aden unbuckled her seatbelt as she parked the new Range Rover—one of the few luxuries she allowed herself in the last six months—in the driveway of a modest two-story home. The movers with the truck carrying the rest of their belongings and furniture would be arriving soon. The 40-year old woman whose wavy black hair had been recently streaked with grey turned her head to meet her daughter's anxious gaze. "What do you think?" 

“It’s great,” she said optimistically. 

Rory scanned the entirety of their new home, which was a lot smaller and older than their old one. The house was a soft red color that popped out especially with the million shades of green from the forest that peaked out from behind the house. A path from the front yard led to the overgrown garden in the backyard, which Rory had seen in the pictures from the realtor.

The tire swing that hung from a large oak tree brought a sudden dryness to Rory's throat when she thought of her sister who would've loved such a small detail. The teenager swallowed away the pain as she noticed a peculiar detail–the oak tree seemed to lie on both their land and their neighbor's land, which brought her attention to their neighbor. The house next to theirs was similar in design, except the wood paneling was painted white with a police chief cruiser and a rusty red pickup truck parked in the driveway. 

Stella eyed the street of houses hopefully. “We should go introduce ourselves around, especially since the chief of police lives next door." As they had moved into a predominantly white town, she needed to make sure there were no “accidental” misunderstandings pertaining to her or her daughter’s presence in the neighborhood. 

"I don't think we'll have to worry about being robbed at least," Rory snorted sarcastically, wrinkling her button nose distastefully. She was never too fond of neighbors; back in their old home, their neighbors were all too nosy and judgmental. Especially after the unforgettable winter break. 

She prayed the police officer wasn’t racist or anything, but it was a small town so she wouldn’t be too surprised. She followed her mother to the front porch, both wanting to see the house for themselves. With bated breaths, the two stepped inside the empty house instead. 

While her mother continued deeper into the house for an initial sweep, the girl stood in the middle of the main hallway; more so absorbing the fact that they had really uprooted their entire life and had planted themselves in the middle of nowhere. 

In most stories, the teenager is the one who is opposed to moving to a strange small town across the country they had absolutely no connection to; but in their case, Rory’s mother was the one who hesitated to leave the shambles of their life behind. Rory had stopped living weeks ago–she had no one else besides her mother, not anymore. 

It had been only a handful of weeks since their world went to utter hell. Since the accident that destroyed everything–Rory’s innocence, her family, and worst of all, her dear sister. Luna had copied everything Rory did, from hairstyles to favorite boy bands. They had been so close they were more like twins, only separated by 13 months of age. And now death. 

Luna Aden’s death had pushed the last two remaining but utterly broken members of the Aden family to seek a home elsewhere to begin again.

She was lost in her thoughts for longer than she intended as her mother appeared on the bottom stair, apparently finished with her once-over. "Your room’s the second on the right side of the hallway.” Stella flashed her daughter a comforting smile, patting Rory’s shoulder as she passed her to make a call outside. 

Rory ascended the creaky staircase to a hallway with four doors. The first room to the left was her mom’s and the other was the hallway closet. On the right was a guest bathroom and finally she entered the decent-sized room meant for her. Like the rest of the house, it was a blank canvas–ivory-colored walls, dark hardwood flooring, two screened windows, and a walk-in closet. There was a door connecting to the bathroom beside her room.

Wandering over to the window, she opened the blinds, unveiling the wondrous scenic view of the forest of her backyard. Something about the forest was almost otherworldly. Mysterious, even. And Rory loved a mystery. 

There was a marked trail route between their house and the police officer next door. She had never been much of an outdoorsy-nature girl, but maybe she would change that. Rory made a mental note to explore later as she went to help her mother bring down their things from the car and the moving van that eventually showed up half an hour after them. 

The rest of their first day in Forks was spent busying themselves with organizing the house and boxes of Chinese take-out.

:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

The next morning was beyond rough for Rory. She had stayed up late, having a mental breakdown after midnight before her first day at a new school was _just_ what she needed. Rory managed to ignore her alarm four times before she finally cracked her eyes open to the light-filled room. It was so bright. For a second, she was incredibly tempted to just stay home and avoid the new school in the warmth of her bed, drowning under a nest of blankets. Then the fear of being left alone with her thoughts hit her. 

"Aurora! ¡ _Despierta, cariño_!" Her mother shouted from her own room across the hall. Stella Reyes Aden was a brain surgeon who had gone through medical school, residency, and becoming an attending while raising two girls. Though her new job in the small town hospital would be definitively less hectic than before, and there was no real rush to get there, Stella was equally as anxious as her daughter to adjust to their new life.

With a groan, the teenager begrudgingly began getting ready. Digging into her duffle bag as she had yet to organize her closet, Rory rummaged through the various tank tops, blouses, and skirts apt for a Texan spring until she pulled out an outfit sensible for the dreary weather of Forks. It was a lot colder than she was used to and it would probably rain at some point in the day. She buttoned her long-sleeved cream sweater to the second to last button just above her cleavage and pulled on the high waisted denim jeans, cuffing the ends, and then sliding on new leather ankle boots and a sleek black leather jacket. She took almost fifteen minutes to slap on her face with her usual concealer, mascara, eyeliner, and blush combination. Her thick, wavy hair just needed a brush through to look nice. 

Rory had always held the strong belief that first impressions were important, no matter the circumstances. Her routine also helped invigorate her with the will she needed to get through the undoubtedly overwhelming first day as “the new girl”. 

She slung her canvas bag over her shoulder, only filled with a lone notebook, a pencil pouch, and her omnipresent sketchbook. After a quick breakfast with her mother, struggling to eat much with her unyielding nerves, she was finally ready for her first day at Forks High. 

"Excited yet?" Stella asked as she pulled into the school's lot to drop Rory off. 

She planned to use her lunch break to pick her up when school ended to drop her home before returning to work. Stella had offered the car for Rory’s use, but she declined. Rory wasn’t much for driving these days. 

Rory saw a couple of heads turn to stare at their car; evidently, new people were hard to be ignored in the small town. No doubt word was out, spreading like wildfire, that the new girl had arrived. It didn’t help that the sleek charcoal grey Range Rover stuck out like a thumb amongst the lot full of well-used vehicles. Well, except for the ostentatious silver Volvo parked a few cars away, probably belonging to the principal. 

The brunette bit her lip and shrugged. "I'll probably end up sitting in the bathroom at lunch." 

She knew that coming in as a junior in a small-town high school this far in the school year was probably the most inconvenient time to try to intrude in the already formed cliques. 

The students all continued to stare; she blatantly ignored them, in an attempt to ease her worsening anxiety. 

Stella reassured her daughter with an encouraging smile. "You'll be fine, mi ángel—I think you will find that not to be a problem for you," she teased her, hazel eyes she shared with her daughter darting to the crowd in the parking lot; specifically, the awestruck expressions that had fallen over the male students who had captured a glimpse at Rory Aden. 

Once upon a time ago, Rory had basked in that attention. With her beauty and intelligence, she had been the girl everyone wanted to be or be with. but once shit got serious, no one wanted anything to do with her. 

"Yeah, I'll pass on that, mama. We both know just how well teenage boys and I get along," Rory muttered, finally opening the door and stepping out into the humid spring air. She bent down to grab her backpack from the floor, catching her mother's suddenly solemn expression at Rory's reference to their past.

"Have a good day, darling,” Stella said simply before Rory shut the door. 

For a moment, she stood still in place as her mother drove off. Feeling the eyes of the whole school on her, the carefully constructed facade Rory had developed a long time ago reemerged under all the attention from the people watching her. Their attention brought out an instinctive flicker of the girl she used to be. Resting her face into cool neutrality, Aurora Aden strutted to the front doors, Fork high school’s untouchable new girl. 

Once inside, the attention dispersing in the fluorescent-lit halls, the persona she once wielded as a former Queen-Bee weighed too heavy and she dropped it. It was exhausting to keep up such a pointless front. She had learned in the worst possible way the consequences of being the center of attention. 

It wasn't long before one of her curious classmates approached her. Literally, she took one step outside the office from which she was handed her textbooks, locker combination, and other paperwork when a teenage boy with dark, shaggy, skater boy-esque hair, and pale skin popped up in front of her unexpectedly. He smiled brightly at her like she was a brand new iPhone and he was in need of an upgrade. 

"Hi! You must be Aurora Aden?" Someone clearly had way too many cups of caffeine this morning. She had never met any teenager so hyperactive at 7 in the morning. He grinned at her and held out a hand, "I'm Eric Yorkie."

She looked from her full arms to his extended one awkwardly. "I would shake your hand, but clearly..." She hadn't meant to sound so disdainful, but the boy, Eric, didn't seem to be too downturned by her tone. She was relieved to see he was Asian, as she had feared she would be the only person of color in the school. She cleared her throat, "And call me Rory. Not Aurora,” she corrected him, grimacing at the use of her full name. 

Aurora Aden had been left for dead 2500 miles away. 

She scrunched her nose, and noticing that they were blocking the hall traffic, began walking. The destination was unknown (she had no idea where her AP Spanish class was), but it was better than being ogled in the middle of the hall. 

He was amused by her correction. "Wow, it's like deja vu!” Eric laughed. 

She raised her brow. "What?" 

"Oh, it's just you reminded me of Fork's other new student, Bella. She came here a few weeks ago and doesn't prefer her full name either. I'll _have_ to introduce you two," Eric explained with a gushing tone, "Oh, by the way, welcome to Forks! I meant to mention that. It's not often we get to say that around here. Not until recently anyway.” 

"You're kidding me. Small towns like Forks don't get a lot of new folks? I can't believe it," she remarked sarcastically. 

Eric let out an obnoxious laugh, only catching more attention than before. "Front headlines, baby. Maybe the school newspaper will finally get some heat with you on the cover." 

Rory rolled her eyes. "I don't do any favors for free, honey,” she drawled, despite thinking she wouldn’t mind helping the guy out, especially when he was going out of his way to make her feel welcome. 

Eric had made it his job to be her personal tour guide, pointing out the ins and outs of the school as he helped her find her locker a few hallways down. Her hands felt uncomfortably empty without the books in her arms. 

"Eric!" 

Rory looked behind her to see a tall blonde boy and a shorter brunette reach them, both with wide smiles and interest-filled eyes as they latched onto her presence. 

"Seems we have an influx of new girls these days.” The male grinned, waggling his eyebrows. "Hopefully more are to come."

"Well,” Rory said, lips curled in amusement, “I heard Forks is simply the place to be these days.” She had to meet this Bella girl—as a fellow outsider, maybe there was a chance for a beautiful friendship to blossom.

"Hey, guys. May I introduce you to the newest new girl, _Rory_ Aden,” Eric took special pride in emphasizing her preferred name. “Rory—Mike and Jessica." 

"I know who she is, Eric," the girl, Jessica, rolled her eyes before directing a friendly smile Rory’s way. “I'm the Junior class president. And the student council president. I’d say I’m a better fit to introduce her around." She tilted her head at the boy challengingly. 

Rory was very much familiar with the head bitch dynamic Jessica played into considering she had done the same up until recently. She decided she was going to be great friends with the girl. 

"Huh. So it's _Rory_? Not Aurora? Like the Disney princess?" The blonde boy asked with squinted blue eyes. Rory wasn’t exactly a name heard often around the most northwestern parts.

Thoughtfully, Rory really wondered how her name got passed around so quickly (some student aid in the front office was probably to blame), but she shrugged it off anyway. "Sadly, I'm nothing close to Disney princess material. More of the spiteful villainess if anything.” 

"Ooh. Mysterious. I like it," he flirted while both Rory and Jessica cringed.

Just then, the bell rang, signifying it was time to head to class. 

Reflexively, Rory followed the three down the hall mindlessly as they began complaining about their mutually hated physics teacher. Which reminded her...

"Hey, uh, do any of you know where the AP Spanish class is?" 

Jessica frowned, slightly pouting she couldn’t hog the new girl anymore. "That's all the way across the school." It wasn’t that big of a campus really, but it was in the opposite direction. 

"Damn. I would take you but I can't be tardy to Jenkins again." Mike seemed devastated at his inability to help her. “If I get detention one more time, Coach will bench me.” 

“Doubtful, since your dad’s store equips the athletic department, but okay,” Jessica shaded him without hesitation. 

Eric’s hand clamped down on Rory's shoulder to her chagrin—she didn’t do well with casual physical contact these days, so she nonchalantly shrugged him off. "I can do—"

"I'll take her." A bell-like voice chimed in from behind them. 

The voice aptly belonged to a girl who seemed more pixie-like than human. She has incredibly short hair that not many could pull off and the palest skin Rory's ever seen. The girl was undeniably pretty, but Rory didn't envy her. Maybe her flawless skin though. 

The group was stunned to silence as they turned to face the newcomer. To Rory’s utmost confusion, her new friends' eyes all widened to the size of tennis balls, all while the dark-haired newcomer acted as though their adverse reactions were normal. 

She merely smiled kindly as if she's known Rory all her life. 

"Hello, Rory. I'm Alice. Alice Cullen.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a work of fanfiction
> 
> i only own my character rory reyes aden and any other original characters/dialogue not belonging to any of the twilight series books and movies


	2. NEW BLOOD

Alice Cullen was possibly the closest being alive to a real-life pixie. She was a slender girl with silky black hair cropped in a typically boyish cut, but Alice pulled the look off flawlessly. Literally. Rory couldn't see one pore or line or hint of redness on Alice's excited face. _I'll have to ask her what foundation she uses, damn._ The most interesting feature about Alice though, besides her short stature and perfect porcelain skin, was the pure golden irises of Alice's almond-shaped eyes. Gold contacts? Trendy…

The tiny, hyperactive teenage girl beamed at Rory. "I’ve been so keen to finally meet you!" The phrasing was just a tad off, enough for Rory to notice, but the melodious sound of Alice’s voice thwarted further deliberation of her strangeness. 

Rory looked to her three new friends whose startled expressions didn’t offer any explanation. They didn't say anything to Alice, who was clearly more interested in speaking to Rory than the others. 

"It’s nice to meet you too, Alice." Rory raised her brow in interest. "How'd you know I go by Rory?" It was strange she had automatically known to call her by her nickname as everyone else had just known her full name. 

Alice's smile didn't waver at Rory's suspicion, though it seemed to grow in mirth and amusement. "Call it a feeling."

Then again, none of the group had been exactly quiet and other people were obviously eavesdropping. Maybe word just got around fast in this school. 

  
  


Eric was the first of the three to break free of their silence. He looked from Rory to Alice dubiously. "Oh, uh, it's okay, you don't have to take Rory to class. I was actually going to—"

"—nonsense! I have AP Spanish right now and you three will be late to Jenkins if you don't dangle on out of here. He's in a foul mood today or so I hear," Alice said charmingly, inciting slightly panicked looks from the three as the final bell was close approaching. She assured them that she and Rory would be just fine. "Well, come on now, Rory. You have to meet J—" Alice paused briefly, "—Señora Cardoza, she's swell!" 

Rory completely missed Alice's slip as she glanced back at Eric, Jessica, and Mike's dumbfounded expressions. "I guess I'll see you guys later." 

It was a small school. There was no doubt she’d end up in one of their classes before lunch. 

"Okay, bye Rory..." they said, hesitantly making their way to class, albeit casting suspicious glances at Rory's new tour guide. 

As Rory and Alice walked off, the trio of friends groaned in exasperation. 

"Ugh. And the Cullen's strike again,” Eric groaned with a sigh. "What is it with the Cullen family and new girls?" 

"First Bella, now Rory.” Mike was just as exasperated. "Leave some for the rest of us, Cullens!" he said dramatically as if the alienated classmates were listening.

"Wonder where Alice's shadow went," Jessica contemplated as they speedily walked to their physics class. "They’re usually attached at the hip."

"The new girls are too _new_ to Forks to realize just how much of a bunch of weirdos they really are," Mike snorted. "I don't expect Rory to get too caught up though. Edward was the only single one left of the freaks. Unless one of the couples are into polygamy."

"First off, it’d be polyamory,” Eric corrected him, “Second—.”

“Seriously?” Jessica interrupted them before they could continue further with a reprimanding grimace. “Don’t be disgusting!"

:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

Alice bounced on her feet as Rory followed her down the mostly empty halls. Someone was really excited for AP Spanish even though they had definitely just missed the final bell. Alice didn't seem very bothered.

"How do you like Forks so far? Have you been around? The shopping's not much here, but Port Angeles is nearby, and Seattle is a little drive away if you’re ever up for it," Alice rambled, throwing question after question. 

"Forks is a cute town. It’s very different from San Antonio—where I’m from. My mom and I just got to town yesterday, so I haven’t had time to go around or anything," Rory answered each question swiftly. “I do have to go shopping for a new wardrobe. I’m used to shorts and crop top weather by this time of year.” 

"We'll have to go for a weekend soon then. Seattle if the weather’s not too bad," Alice said surely, her voice pausing as her golden eyes unfocused briefly before brightening again. "Two weekends from now will be perfect." 

Rory didn't bother questioning Alice's oddly specific plans and weather predictions. She was bemused at the dark-haired girl’s confidence in their budding friendship. She also felt a sense of relief that every person she had met so far was unexpectedly genuinely friendly. It was a nice change. 

"Why were they so surprised back there?" Rory asked, thinking back to the trio's matching expressions of shock at Alice's company. "It's like you never spoke to them before or something."

Alice shrugged. "I don't have much in common with them."

"And we do?" 

That gleam in Alice's eyes appeared again. "Trust me, Rory. I have a very good feeling that we will soon enough." 

Alice was incredibly cryptic, but Rory liked that about her. 

Finally stopping before a classroom at the end of the painted cinder block hallway, her self-imposed guide was almost shaking with excitement for some reason at whatever or whoever was behind the door. She entered first with Rory trailing behind, dreading the beginning of classes. 

Alice grinned at the teacher who had stopped talking at their interruption. The older Afro-Latina teacher held a brief look of annoyance on her face at their tardiness, which faded as Alice explained in impressive Spanish, gesturing to Rory's tense form beside her. 

Being abandoned at the front of the classroom once Alice continued to the back of the room, Rory shuffled her weight on her feet as she felt the eyes of every student on her. 

"¡Hola! ¡Eres la nueva estudiante! ¡Bienvenido! Soy Señora Cardoza!" [ _tr.: Hello! You must be the new student. Welcome! I am Señora Cardoza!_ ] She shook Rory's hand and gestured broadly to the class. "Por favor preséntese a la clase, señorita Aden!" [ _tr.: Please introduce yourself to the class, Ms. Aden!_ ]

Slowly, her gaze scanned rows of desks holding the twenty students in the class. Almost immediately, however, her breath caught her throat because next to the window and three rows down from the front was the most unbelievably gorgeous being Rory had ever seen. And that was including Zac Efron. 

[ _or_ _insert token celebrity crush_ ]

The gorgeous boy—no, man—with honey blond waves sat next to Alice, who was beaming as bright as the sun as she glanced from Rory to him. Like Alice, the mysterious man had pale skin. He looked crafted from marble like Michaelangelo himself had created him because no human looked like him. The heavily diffused, cloud-filtered light even helped to light up his sculpted features so ethereally, it was like he was frozen in time. 

From the form-fitting forest green button-down he wore, he was well-defined in the muscle department, with his broad shoulders and bicep. He wasn't burly and brawny like the football players she used to be surrounded by, but he was lean and wiry. Like a track-star or baseball player. 

He was staring right at her. 

Her nerves returned with a flurry and a flutter. The golden eyes of the honey-haired boy were trained carefully on her like she was prey and he was the apex predator. She couldn't break away from his lionlike gaze, his bright golden eyes were twin suns, the gravity of his stare pulling her into a black hole. 

Rory Aden knew from then on that this golden god of a man was a very, very bad decision. It would probably be best to stay far, far away from him, but Rory always made them anyway. She couldn’t help herself. 

A poignant cough from Señora Cardoza broke her stare off with the mysterious golden boy and Rory's eyes returned to the rest of the class. Some of them had noticed her train of sight and seemed to share the same sentiments as well—who could blame the new girl? They had all reacted the same way when the Cullens had shown up to Forks three years ago. 

Falling back into reality, Rory flawlessly introduced herself to the class and from Señora Cardoza's squeal, there weren't many natural Spanish speakers in Forks high school. 

_Glad I'm bringing something to the town besides heavy baggage and a broken family._

Señora Cardoza instructed her to pick whatever empty seat was available. A few friendly faces seemed eager to have the new girl sit near them, but in the last row, Alice was pointing a manicured index finger to the seat directly behind the mysterious blond. 

Señora Cardoza began her lecture again as Rory found herself sliding past the desks. As she passed Alice and her happy grin, she noticed the blond boy firmly kept his gaze to the front of the class and refused to look at her. He didn't offer her a friendly smile like every other person in the room she passed. He completely ignored her even. Ouch. 

As she settled in the creaky wooden desk behind him, she noticed how he remained rigid like a statue with how tense he was. She wondered what his problem could be, maybe he was a snob or something. She considered scoliosis. Either way, he was obviously uncomfortable by her presence, which was disheartening.

A half-hour passed and Rory found herself fully bored with the lesson. She had already finished the unit on book analysis back in Texas, so there wasn't any real need to pay attention. Alice was also in agreement as she turned in her seat to face Rory. 

"I'm so glad you decided to sit with us," Alice whispered. "We're going to be great friends."

Rory smiled indulgently. "Not like I had much of a choice. You probably would have yelled across the room to talk to me if I decided to sit elsewhere." 

Meanwhile, Jasper concentrated his entire being on keeping his bloodlust under strict, difficult control. 

_"Where are you going?" He had asked Alice when she decided to leave him alone in the classroom five minutes before the final bell._

_"Don't worry, Jazz. You'll see."_

_"Oh no."_

_She was dangerous. The girl who had walked in with Alice. And the most beautiful person he had ever seen before in nearly two centuries of immortality._

_Jasper practically tasted Alice's excitement and anticipation from his seat as she walked in and Jasper knew she had had a vision about the new girl and him._

_Fantastic._

_He knew it was best not to argue with Alice, she was quite determined when she wanted something. But when the different emotions he felt from his classmates faded away into the background, he was hit with the strangest realization about the new girl._

_He tilted his head slightly as he peered at the girl standing before the whole class as she introduced herself._

_The abyss of her emotional state overwhelmed him. She seemed to be feeling every end of the emotional spectrum in that very moment, all while smiling as if everything was normal. It definitely wasn’t for her. In fact, she was feeling so much emotion, it was difficult for Jasper to read her, giving him a minor headache as he tried to sort through the internal chaos within Aurora Aden. He tried to manipulate her emotional state, but that momentous wall of hatred, sadness, elation, hope, and countless other feelings refused to budge even the littlest bit. It was like a brick wall. He couldn’t control her emotions, let alone his. He was fucked._

And ever since that moment, Jasper had been careful to not dare breathe or stare at the girl, not wanting to freak her out or accidentally attack her. He didn't do well with humans so close to him and the feel of her light exhaled across his back made him even more alert to the girl's closeness. If Jasper had no control over some human's emotions and couldn't use his abilities, there was no telling on his control over his bloodlust. He was really fucked. 

Now, Alice was trying to force him to lose control by making the girl, Rory, sit behind him and trying to get him to talk to her. No fucking way. Sitting in front of her was hard enough, speaking to her would potentially be a bloodbath.

When he didn't take her hint, Alice rolled her eyes. _Typical_ . Did she have to do _everything_ herself?

"This is Jasper by the way," Alice whispered to Rory, flourishing her hand toward the statue-like blond. 

_Jasper_. So that was his name. 

Rory waited for him to greet her with what she assumed was Fork’s sweet hospitality. But he continued to stare at the chalkboard instead. 

She attempted to wave off Jasper's surprising coldness. She didn't want him to be forced to talk to her, as hurtful as his brush off was. However, Alice’s gaze narrowed in annoyance at his rudeness.

"It seems he has left his manners at home.” “Wait until I tell Esme." 

Jasper stiffened even more if possible. Alice stared him down. 

He could practically hear the never-ending lecture she would give him when she got the chance. "What are you up to now, Alice?" Jasper asked at a volume too low for humans so that only Alice could decipher his words. 

Alice never forced him to become friends with their classmates, it was difficult enough for him to be in the constant vicinity of humans he had seen as walking blood bags for decades. And it had only been three years since he accidentally slipped up in the last town they had lived in. He was on a streak. 

The girl was beyond tempting in all manners of the word. The monster inside of him had already engineered a plan—all it would take was a captivating smile, a suggestion to someplace private, and that burning thirst would be quenched. He forced the bloodthirsty beast back into the abyss by hyper-focusing on the faint blue lines on his notebook paper, calming down before Edward had to intercede. His brother was most likely listening in.

_I’m all good now, I won’t harm her...can’t say the same for our dear sister though._ Jasper prided himself on his control—over emotions, his bloodlust, himself. _She_ unnerved him. He didn't like it. 

Rory arched her brow at the hint of the relationship between Jasper and Alice. They were certainly close if Alice knew his mother well enough to threaten him with, Rory assumed. It was a matter of discerning whether their intimidation was platonic or not. Disappointed for some reason, she knew it was probably the latter.

Alice gave Jasper an exasperated look. "Say _something_ to her. You'll be _fine_ , Jazz," she insisted, confident in this outcome as things were going just as planned as in her vision. 

With a visible sigh, which Rory watched his well-formed back muscles contract and release beneath his shirt, Jasper shifted in his seat to face her slowly and cautiously. Alice reflexively reached a hand across the aisle to his arm encouragingly. 

_They must be together,_ Rory concluded, observing their closeness bitterly. She tried to slay the ugly green-eyed monster that had made it's grand entrance deep within her while she posed a smile at the pair, mistaking the display as one of affection, not of support. She wasn’t sure why she was having such an extreme reaction to this man, this immediate attraction sprung from a single look when he obviously didn’t want anything to do with her. 

The reticent blond slowly turned to face her and she was struck once more by his flawlessness. He couldn't be human. But he was. Perhaps he didn’t possess any visible physical flaws, but some people masked them better than most. It only made her even more suspicious and interested. Shit. 

As if not noticing her internal struggle to regain normalcy, Jasper bowed his head slightly to her. "My sincerest apologies, I've never been the best at making introductions. I'm Jasper Hale. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Aden." 

  
  


He only intended to introduce himself to appease his sister’s badgering and return to the teacher’s lecture to distract himself from his thirst. 

Then, the girl smiled at him and Jasper was fucked. 

Rory managed to look somewhat unaffected by his looks despite not being able to breathe properly. He spoke like three sentences to her and she had _butterflies_. She tried to smother them though as Jasper was probably Alice's boyfriend by the looks of things and Rory was certainly no home wrecker. 

Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't miss the undeniable southern twang to his deep, soothing voice she could listen to forever maybe. He reminded her of Texas and that ol' southern charm. One corner of his pink lips was raised up slightly as his onyx eyes met hers. No, Rory. Bad Rory. He's with Alice. 

"It's, uh, fine. Yeah, and it's Aurora Aden, not Miss Aden. I mean Rory. Call me Rory, please. Nice to meet you, Jasper," Rory stammered as her heart pounded in her chest. She couldn't help the hot rush of crimson heat in her cheeks either. This wasn’t like her. She felt like she was going through an out-of-body experience. 

"Likewise," he responded to her statement, staring deeply into her eyes. “Welcome to Forks.” 

“You, too. I mean, thanks.”

Rory couldn't have been any more obvious of her state of panic, but she had no idea Jasper was in the same boat as her. 

Jasper had no idea what to do. He usually relied on his empathic ability to guide him through conversations, especially with humans to make sure they weren't too uncomfortable by his intimidating aura. And Rory, just the sound of her voice, her vanilla-honey scent, her eyes, was overwhelming. 

Jasper quickly glanced at Alice who was all too amused at this development, she probably foresaw this happening and wanted him to handle it. Oh, maybe this was a test for him. A difficult, tempting, very beautiful test. Jasper looked back at the girl—Rory. 

Rory looked closer at his eyes again, this time managing not to get lost to notice what was different.

When she first walked into the classroom, his eyes had been an impossibly golden hue like Alice's. She had thought the gold contacts were some obscure trend, but up close, she could tell he wasn't wearing any. And now they were a dark onyx shade. How peculiar. 

She kept from speaking out her observation because she didn't want to sound like a suspicious twat to only find out it was a trick of the light or that she was just crazy and imagining things. 

"You should sit with us at lunch, Rory," Alice invited her serendipitously, her chin resting on the palm of her hand with humor playing in her eyes.

Jasper darted his dark eyes at Alice angrily and she glared in return. 

Okay, maybe Rory read the signals wrong. 

She thought his hard exterior had softened, but she guessed it was just for show. He probably thought she was a bitch, she had been told she gives off that persona in public settings. Even if she had done nothing to him, perhaps he was just an asshole. Not to mention she would be intruding on Alice and Jasper's friend group. Jasper didn't want her sitting near him any longer than he had to in this class. At least she still had the other friends she had made, Alice had invited her first...plus, annoying Jasper, even more, seemed only fair. Rory used to be known for being spiteful and petty; she had hoped to retire that person, but it comes in handy when dealing with rude assholes. 

"Sure. If Eric and the others don't drag me along first." Rory said with a shrug. "Or we can all just sit together." 

Alice and Jasper glanced at each other. Rory could have sworn their mouths had moved, but she blinked and missed it. 

Something was lost in translation as Alice seemed to daze off once more. "We'll see," Alice said finally. 

Rory shrugged and returned her attention back to the teacher who somehow didn't notice their obvious conversation despite the rest of the class attempting to eavesdrop and cast quick discrete looks at them. 

Rory could feel Jasper's penetrating gaze still on her but she didn't dare to look back. She knew he was probably criticizing her. She wasn't anything close to their perfect gorgeousness and Rory had a strange inkling that their other friends were on par as well. Pretty people tended to stick together. Rory knew that well enough. It's probably why Eric and the others were so stunned by Alice's appearance in the hall. 

Rory's well-constructed facade made its appearance once more. She finally remembered why she hated high school. Everyone judged you. 

When the bell rang, Rory followed the horde out into the crowded hallway with great reluctance. It was unlikely Alice and she would have the next class together. According to the lady in the front office, unlike AP Spanish, her math class would be full of mostly seniors. Her entire schedule was really like that— in Warren high, her school in San Antonio, she had liked taking rigorous coursework, especially if it meant the sooner she could graduate. It wasn’t much of a problem when she was popular and well-known. In a new town, it felt even more isolating. It would’ve been nice to have known someone else in the class, even if Alice Cullen was a very interesting person. 

"You have Calc II next, right Rory?" 

Rory looked beside her where Alice had appeared right beside her. She flinched at the unexpected closeness, appreciating when Alice discreetly gave her some space. 

"Uh, yes. I do. I’m guessing I'm not too far away since Cardoza's was 133 and Calc should be 126." She glanced down at her schedule lying on top of the notebook in her arms and to the direction where classroom numbers began to decline. 

Alice grinned. "Well, I'm afraid I'm not that smart for Calc II, but Jasper over here is,” she called out, looking as devious as the Cheshire Cat when the incredibly tall blond froze in his steps, caught heading in the definitively opposite direction from their apparently shared math class.

Rory narrowed her eyes at the mute teenager who reluctantly joined her side with a grim look. 

"Well, I'm off to art class!" Alice waved with a mischievous grin. "See you later, Rory." She began skipping away. 

"Yeah. Right." 

Jasper and Rory were left in awkward silence. He stared at her blankly and then promptly continued down the hall, leading the way to their class. 

Rory tried not to think of the small distance between them or how tall he loomed over her. 

The funny thing was that Jasper was thinking just that. 


	3. CURIOUS

Rory Aden had never been the type of person to obsess over what others thought of her. With her wicked grin and gleaming eyes, she exuded confidence. She was attractive and intelligent. She wasn't afraid of people, but something about Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale unnerved her. Especially Jasper Hale. 

Maybe it was the freakishly pale skin and weirdly colored eyes or the way Jasper Hale went between blatantly ignoring her to glaring a hole at the side of her head when she looked elsewhere. Rory didn't know if he hated her and for some unfathomable reason, it irked her immensely. Like she wanted his approval. Deep down, she knew she didn't really care but something about Jasper Hale pulled her in while something about her pushed him away. 

It was...unusual. 

It turned out that Rory and Jasper had the next class together—AP chemistry. Then AP Biology. Except thankfully, in both of those classes, Eric and Jessica were in respectively so she didn't have to awkwardly follow Jasper around or sit with him. She was positive they were both glad for it even if they both tended to feel each other’s eyes on them at random intervals. 

Halfway through the day, Rory‘s anxiety had finally subdued. Aside from one particular person, everyone else she had met made her feel beyond welcome. 

“Yeah, so you should totally join the volleyball team, Rory," Jessica was saying as they walked to the cafeteria. "I can't believe you were the captain and had to move in the middle of the season."

Rory shrugged lightly. "Captainship doesn't matter to me. Besides, I was just glad—"

"Hey, hey, hey," The discernible voice of Mike Newton said as he slipped his arms over the shoulders of Jessica and Rory. "There's my two favorite girls." 

"We just met.” Rory rolled her eyes while Jessica glared at Mike. 

Jessica's face soured. "What about Bella, Mike? She was your favorite girl just yesterday and now that you have a shiny, new toy—"

"Woah, chill." Rory frowned at the two, shrugging Mike's arm off. "I don't know who this Bella is, but I didn't move here to become someone's toy and I doubt she did either." 

“Yeah, my bad. I was just joking, really,” Mike apologized sheepishly as they entered the loud cavernous room filled with starving high school students.

Rory sighed, “It’s fine.” 

A couple of jock-looking guys called out for Mike which he eagerly responded to, leaving the girls to join the lunch line with a wave. 

Jessica exhaled sharply. "I didn't mean to offend you, Rory. Mike is just..." she groaned while paying for her food. "He's so clueless when I've been here the whole time and with Bella, it was somewhat tolerable, but now you—you're too freaking gorgeous for this town and I just—"

"Hey," Rory patted Jessica's shoulder, ending her self-deprecating spiel. "Looks aren't everything and men are trash," she said matter of factly. "If Mike doesn't see what a great girl you are, then frankly, he doesn't deserve your attention." 

“Men  _ are _ trash,” Jessica repeated in stout agreement, lightening up tremendously in just a few seconds. "God, we might have just met Rory, but I'm really glad you came here. No one else would've set me straight like that." 

"No problem," Rory shrugged and then pointed to a table where Eric was frantically waving them over while the entire table stared at her. "I presume that's the table." 

"Yup!" Jessica was peppy once more. She pulled Rory to her side as they got to the table. "Guys, this is—"

"Rory Aden," the table of teenagers chorused. 

Smiling widely, she sat down. “Word gets around quick,” she laughed, glad she didn’t need to correct her name preference herself. 

The friendly-looking group arranged themselves to include Jessica and her. Eric and Jessica then began an unspoken battle of who could introduce each person sitting at the table to Rory the fastest. Rory even surreptitiously posed for a picture for the school newspaper feature on her. She wasn't bothered; it was clear Forks didn't get much newsworthy material.

"And this is Bella," Jessica said quickly before Eric could, pointing to the pale and quiet brunette whose attention had mostly been at something behind her. "If you're wondering what Bella is doing, she's checking out Edward Cullen, as usual,” Jessica stage whispered, causing the girl in question to turn a bright red. 

_Cullen_? Rory glanced surreptitiously at the table Bella Swan kept glancing at. There were five of them and they were all perfect. Jasper and Alice were counted amongst them to Rory's dread. She hadn't forgotten Alice's explicit invitation nor Jasper’s apparent disdain for her. Before she could get a better look at the others, Rory’s attention was drawn to Bella. 

"I am not," Bella protested with a sigh. She gave Rory a small smile. "Sorry about that. Um, I think we might be neighbors." 

"Seriously?" Angela, the camera-welding girl with cool glasses next to Bella asked. "That's such a crazy coincidence. Except you moved here because of your dad. He's the chief of police, Rory," she explained, curiosity bloomed in her eyes, "and you moved here because...?" 

_A horrific tragedy and a series of scarring events_. Rory's lips curved slightly. "There was a need for a new surgeon at Forks Hospital and we—my mom and I—needed a change." 

Bella nodded. "Ch—my dad and I meant to stop by to welcome you both yesterday, but he got home pretty late what with all the animal attacks." 

"Animal attacks?" 

Everyone at the table grew solemn. Rory understood then. Even small towns had their tragedies. 

Eric's usually light expression turned dark with heady caution. "Don't go out in the woods alone, Rory. There are some dangerous things lurking about." 

Rory let out a shaky laugh. "And to think I was planning on taking a hike today after school. I guess that beautiful forest surrounding my house won't get explored any time soon." She shrugged while everyone looked sort of relieved. 

"So, where are you from?" Bella took it upon herself to ask, realizing no one else had. "You have a slight accent, it's interesting, but I can't quite place it." 

"I didn't know I did," Rory hummed, glancing around the fully attuned table. "I'm from San Antonio, Texas, actually, but I’m also Hispanic and I’ve spoken Spanish my whole life, so it could be a combination of the two. I never noticed it anyways.” 

Angela's smile widened. “I’m Mexican-Italian,” she shared, thrilled she had a fellow Hispanic friend. “ _ Es un cambio bueno de los mar de blancos personas _ .” [ _ tr.: It's a nice change from the sea of pale people. _ ]

“Pues, cariño, estoy aquí para quedarme.” [ _ tr.: Well, darling, I’m here to stay. _ ] The two girls shared a grin of solidarity while their tablemates felt out of the loop at the sudden language switch. 

Jessica tsked. "See, this is how tan people from the south should be." She poked fun at Bella's ivory complexion despite having lived in the south for so long. "Bella is  _ supposedly _ from Arizona.” 

Rory raised her brow at being called tanned when she was a brown woman. It reminded her of when the girls in her old hometown would hold their arms next to Rory’s to compare their tans in the warmer months.  _ ‘Look, I’m darker than you!’ _ they would brag all while ignoring the fact of how they had definitely increased their chances of developing melanoma. Bella’s stubborn paleness was oddly likable. 

"Leave her alone, Jess," Angela rolled her eyes, but Bella hardly seemed to notice.

She was looking past everyone to the back of the room again. Rory followed her gaze to a quiet corner of the room where the five incredibly beautiful people sat at. She understood Bella's inability to look away—in fact, several others in the cafeteria seemed to be spending their lunch staring at the group too. 

Aside from Alice and Jasper, there was one other girl and two boys. The girl was insanely beautiful with long blonde waves and the guy beside her was huge, muscular, and intimidating. The bronze haired boy who looked like the youngest of the bunch with boyish features was seriously good looking—all of them were. Rory couldn't believe they were all high school students, most of them looked more like college students. They all looked like they could be on the cover of GQ or Vogue and that was including the actual circular cafeteria table. 

"Oh, not you, too," Mike groaned as he joined the table with a tray of food. He seemed to have decided it had been long enough for the previous tension to subside as he slid into the closest seat to Rory. “Like I said before, what is it with the Cullen's and new girls? I guess they probably can't stand to see such beautiful girls sitting with us common folk instead of their royal court.” He managed to somehow flirt, joke, insult, and disregard centuries of progress all in two sentences. 

For whatever reason, Rory glanced at the Cullen’s table in the impossible possibility there was a chance they had heard him all the way across the cafeteria. 

Jasper Hale was looking his best to look as though he was definitely not looking at their table in a way that Rory believed he might have been just doing. The two guys Rory hadn't met appeared highly amused at some joke while the ethereal looking blonde stared back unimpressed. Alice was waving her over excitedly as she made eye contact with Rory, tilting her head toward the empty seats at their table meaningfully. 

"Hurt you weren't invited to the club, Mike?" Rory raised her brow, unimpressed by his attitude. She hoped he snapped out of his evidently large ego quite soon as she was growing a little tired of it. 

"You were?" The table inquired in surprise. 

With a burst of energy and manic-spite, Rory wiggled her fingers back at Alice and stood up. 

Angela jokingly narrowed her eyes. "Bored of us already?" 

Rory tossed her hair behind one shoulder, not noticing the eyes of a few boys following her movements. She gripped her backpack, slung it over one shoulder, and smirked. "I'm going to say hello." 

"You're ditching  _ us _ for the Cullens?" Jess quietly shrieked, alerting those in the immediate area, if not a good half of the cafeteria of the new girl’s intention to fraternize with the school’s most mysterious group of students. 

Rory patted the high-strung girl’s shoulder. "Not for forever,” she assured Jess with a laugh.

A few (Jessica, Mike, and Eric) protested with pouts and sighs, while others (Angela and Bella) were more curious than anything. As Rory passed the other new girl, she paused. "Wanna come with, Bella?"

The brunette turned crimson, stiffening as she shook her head rapidly. "Um, no—no thanks, I just—it'd be awkward—"

"Oh, come on, Bella. Don't let me throw myself to the wolves just yet," Rory glanced back at the Cullen table where she caught them all in mid-laugh. Rory raised her brow, what was so funny? 

"Yeah, Bella. Go say hi to Edward," Angela teased, poking the shy brunette in the side with a wide smile.

Rory raised her brows at Bella. A little peer pressure was healthy. 

"Fine."

Rory and Angela shared triumphant grins. 

Bella begrudgingly stood.

"I'm going to projectile vomit," she hissed as Rory led the way to the Cullen’s table. 

"Aim to the left then. My boots are new." 

Not only were the five teenagers staring at Bella and Rory, but the entire cafeteria was also watching the new girls about to make a fool of themselves. Rory, while her stomach flipped tumultuously, was skilled in the art of deception and kept her body language nonchalant. 

Bella clutched Rory's forearm. "I feel like I'm about to die." 

"You'll live, Bella." 

"Rory! Bella!" Alice stood up, a bright smile on her fairy-like face. Her bell-like voice echoed loudly, making it obvious to the entire school, if it wasn't already, of the two girls' destination. 

" _Alice_ ," Edward and Jasper hissed at their adopted sister. Both boys quickly calmed down as the pair of brunettes approached, adopting stony expressions. 

Up close, the group of teenagers was so impossibly beautiful, it was almost unreal. Besides their extremely pale white skin and bruise-like under eyes, each teenager had perfectly symmetrical features, walking photoshopped beings with such an ethereal demeanor Rory felt incomprehensibly inferior, even though she was fully confident in herself. 

The gorgeous blonde sitting between Alice and the brawny guy glared at them, her glacial face as sharp and deadly as the winter. "Do you two want something?" 

Bella looked very much eager to scamper away with her tail tucked between her legs. Rory assumed the bronze haired boy had to be Edward by the way he was intensely staring at the quiet brunette. 

Arching her brow, Rory planted herself stubbornly. The blonde reminded her of her old crew and she knew just how to deal with her. "Just the ever so lovely hospitality of Forks I've heard all about," Rory drawled before smiling cheerfully. “Alice invited us if you didn’t get the drift.” 

The blonde narrowed her gaze and Rory smirked. The linebacker-like dude beside the blonde whispered something to most likely calm her down. "As I was telling you all, this is Rory, my new friend," Alice interrupted the beginning of the bitch off, gesturing to the two girls to introduce them to the others. "We all know Bella." 

"Hello, Bella," Edward greeted the brunette smoothly. 

"Hi.” She racked her mind for something smart or cool to say to the bronze-haired boy. "...Did you do the assignment for biology?" Inwardly, she slapped her forehead, but Edward gave her a crooked grin. 

Rory hid her smile as she urged Bella to step towards the empty seat next to her obvious crush. That left the only other empty seat between Jasper and Rosalie. Lovely. She inhaled sharply, unintentionally catching strong notes of leather and cinnamon and something else as she sat down cordially. 

"Jasper."

"Aurora."

Rory narrowed her eyes. " _Don't_ call me Aurora." 

The devastatingly handsome blond raised his brow at her. "My apologies." 

Rory shrugged. Bella and Edward had fallen into an awkward-for-everyone-at-the-table stare off. Her manic rush waned as she fully registered her actions. Why did she think she had the right to barge in on the group's lunch?! Why didn't someone stop her?! 

Rory cleared her throat, forcing her anxiety to go away. "So, I've met Alice and Jasper, but I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the rest of you."

"Emmett Cullen, at your service," the handsome buff guy beside the blonde said with a dimpled grin. Emmett tapped on the blonde's thigh, but her glare didn't budge. He sighed at his girlfriend's stubbornness. "This is Rosalie Hale." 

"Edward,” the bronze haired boy said, barely looking away from Bella to nod at Rory, his golden eyes distracted. 

It was a bit odd how an entire group had names like that, as in the kinds you didn’t exactly hear every day. Not a single ‘Tyler’ or an ‘Emma’—not that those kinds of names would fit any of them anyway. Well, it's not like Rory could talk either. Her name was  _ Aurora _ for God's sake. Like the Disney princess. 

Rory's brows scrunched together and looked at Alice for confirmation. "So, the three of you are siblings,” she made eye contact with the two other Cullen boys, then. gestured to the two she sat between, “and Jasper and Rosalie are siblings as well?” 

Alice nodded slightly with a little laugh. "Not exactly. We're actually all adopted."

Rory's eyes widened but Bella was hardly surprised for obvious reasons. Rory looked around the table, noting the strange physical similarities they all shared, even those who were apparently not blood-related.

"Our parents, Carlisle and Esme, adopted the three of us just a few years ago from the foster care system. Rosalie and Jasper though are Esme’s brother-in-law’s twins." Edward broke from staring at Bella to answer Rory's unsaid question. 

"Oh. That's cool," Rory nodded slowly, appreciating the specificity of their relation to each other. "A little strange, but cool."

"Strange?" Rosalie's eyes flashed dangerously and Rory gulped, regretting her thoughtless phrasing. 

"I mean. Obviously, you guys are all together-together?" Her voice was unsure. 

_Good job, Rory. You've already offended a whole ass family and it's only noon. How much more awkward could she be?_

Edward Cullen was the first to laugh. 

They all glanced at each other, then at their siblings, then at Rory. Emmett could hardly hide his guffaws and even Rosalie rolled her eyes. Alice started to giggle. Jasper cracked a smile. 

"We're not all ‘ _ together-together’ _ ," Jasper explained with a flicker of humor in his dark eyes. "Just Rose and Emmett. That'd be a bit incestuous, darling, if we were all just  _ dating _ each other." 

Rory was bewildered. "Oh." 

"Don't worry, Rory," Alice reached over Jasper to pat her hand on the table. Rory flinched at the freezing touch but wasn't alarmed, attributing the coldness to the weather. "Jasper and I are just best friends I can assure you." 

"Don't wor—?" Rory froze in the realization of Alice's insinuation and so did the honey-haired blond next to her. 

Apparently, it can get very, very much more awkward. 

Edward and Emmett shook their heads. 

Bella was very glad the attention wasn't on her for once whilst feeling very bad for her new friend and neighbor. Alice Cullen, for all her grace and friendliness, very much lacked subtlety. 

Rory squirmed the slightest in her squeaky plastic seat. She was so close to Jasper and he barely made any discernible movement. As if he needed another reason to not like her. 

_ Thanks, Alice. _

Edward snickered underneath his breath. 

"Anyways," If Rory wasn't positive that Rosalie would rip her head off if she tried, she would have kissed Emmett at that moment. "Are you an Overwatch girl or a Call of Duty girl? I've got you pegged down for CoD and I need a new gaming partner. Jasper and Edward are too boring nowadays..."

Jasper was absolutely sure of three things as his siblings got to know the new girls. One, Alice was a meddling, little shit. Two, he was going to kill her when they got home. And three, Jasper was helplessly intrigued by this human girl and it was all thanks to Alice's meddlesome, future-seeing ways. 

If he wouldn't look like an idiot, he would slap his palm to his forehead. 

When lunch finally ended, the table dispersed to their classes. Rosalie dragged a waving Emmett to whatever class they had. Bella was whisked away to biology by Edward and Alice had slipped away to AP psychology. 

"Just you and me now again, huh?" Rory offered Jasper a friendly smile. 

He stared at her blankly.

Damn. She really didn't get his bipolar-like animosity. One moment, they got along with a few witty comments, the next, he was looking at her like he was the scum beneath his designer shoes. 

Rory chalked it down to a serious case of obnoxiousness. She had gathered that not many people attempted to make the effort to know the Cullen family. Or were successful in any manner. So it made some sense that Jasper Hale wasn't jumping to become her new best friend. However, Rory was tenacious.

"Don't tell me," Jasper slightly rose one dark blond brow, "English III?" 

Rory matched his expression. Huh. So, he was no longer ignoring her now. His whiplash moods were beginning to annoy her. She glanced at her schedule. "AP Lang." 

His expression darkened. "Our classes are right next to each other."

"How surprising." 

The pair locked eyes and walked together to the English section of the school, with Jasper leading the way before amicably separating in the neighboring classrooms. 

Rory was able to breathe for once when she experienced a whole class period away from the flawless blond enigma. She was glad to be rid of his stares that ranged from deadly to accusatory, without any reasonable explanation and in spite of her valiant attempts to be cordial with the man. Not that she needed to be liked by him, but more so that she just wasn’t used to being so overtly disliked. 

For her last class period, Rory was content to be led to her AP U.S history by Tyler Crowley, who chatted her ear off with countless bragging tales and compliments to her person. This type of attention, she was used to. It made sense. Which is why when she stepped into the room, neither Rory nor Jasper were surprised to find each other in the same class once more, because why not?

Every class together but one. 

What a crazy coincidence. 

Jasper knew coincidence was spelled A-L-I-C-E. She had indeed spent some time in the front office a few days ago for a now known reason. _She is so meddlesome,_ Jasper thought fondly of his best friend, but he was definitely gonna kill her later. 

The teacher, Mr. Bryce, thankfully didn't force Rory to introduce herself to the class. He signed her slip and told her to take any of the empty seats. Unfortunately, most of the empty seats were next to a few guys with creepy smiles and stares, or placed where she wouldn't see the board well. The feeling of dread filled her as her only option became clear. 

Jasper stifled a sigh when the overwhelming flowery scent of vanilla and roses grew stronger. His throat burned tightly but he swallowed the pain away. He stared at the whiteboard in front of him. _Fuck my life._

Of course, Rory Aden had taken the available seat next to him in his favorite class. Jasper snuck a glance at her. Not that he thought she would be dumb, but Jasper was sort of surprised that Rory Aden’s schedule was full of advanced placement classes, and in many senior classes despite being a junior. It appeared that she had no issues smoothly integrating herself into their class curriculum without much difficulty. 

Rory let out a loud sigh. "What an interesting first day."

Jasper locked his dark eyes with hers. "Interesting indeed."

Rory decided the flip flop fluttery feeling in her stomach was due to her lunch and not the attraction she felt to the blond enigma. Stupid boys. Stupid, stupid, stupid. 

When Stella Aden parked her car in the driving lot of Forks high school, she was surprised to see her daughter walking beside the most handsome teenage boy Stella had ever seen. She wasn't sure if they were purposely walking together due to the lack of words being exchanged, but something about the way they walked beside each other looked natural like they were meant to be. 

"Hey, how was your first day, mi angelita?” Stella asked as Rory opened the passenger-side door. 

“Fine.” 

"And you got that blond boy’s number, right?” 

Rory turned red because the door was very much open and her mother was very much not quiet. She sneaked a glance over her shoulder to see Jasper still passing by unbothered, but Rory didn’t catch the amusement on his face. 

Half-attuned to their conversation, Jasper gracefully hopped into Emmett's jeep feeling very curious about the new girl in a way he's never had before. 

"Mama," Rory hissed embarrassedly as she firmly shut the door. “We just met today!”

"¿Qué, mija? Él es muy guapo." [ _ tr: what, mija? He is very handsome _ ] Stella waggled her brows jokingly. 

"Yeah, yeah, his whole family is," Rory snorted, thinking of the odd group of five inhumanly beautiful teenagers. 

Stella was suddenly too quiet. She glanced at Rory with a teasing smirk. "You've met his whole family  _ already _ ?" 

"Mama!" Rory sank into her seat, wishing her mother would just start driving. "Let's just go home already!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story takes place about three weeks after Bella arrived in Forks, so while Edward isn't actively avoiding Bella anymore; they are still NOT friends. 
> 
> This is also before the car accident. and obviously, alice and jasper are not together lol. alice is just meddlesome.
> 
> THIS STORY IS A MIX OF PLOT LINES OF BOTH THE NOVEL AND THE MOVIE ADAPTATION


	4. Chapter 4

FORKS' UNFORTUNATE CLIMATE of never-ending cloudiness and rain made for a very disastrous day for Bella Swan. She slipped twice on the ice that had formed on the sidewalk as she found herself knocking on the door of the red house beside her at seven in the morning. She heard a loud thud, an expletive curse in Spanish, and the slam of a door. Bella’s eyes widened. 

Rory Aden opened the front door with a breathless smile and a toss of her long, thick wavy hair. Her backpack hung from one shoulder and her hoodie was folded over one arm. "Good morning, Bella!” Rory's red lips curved at the slightly startled and confused deer-like expression of her neighbor, with who she had begun car-pooling. "Ready to go?" 

Bella's brows furrowed together. "Are you?" she asked genuinely. 

Rory simply laughed. 

As Bella drove them to school, Rory thought upon the last few days thoughtfully. Her first week in Forks was interesting, to say the least. Between all the chaos of moving, beginning friendships, and the whole mess of the mysterious Cullen family, Rory was very much surprised by how fast the week passed her. 

"It's Friday, Bella," Rory announced as they pulled into the school lot. "I'm planning on heading to Port Angeles for some much needed retail therapy with Jess tomorrow. Wanna come with?" 

Bella looked dubious, but she nodded. "Um, sure. Maybe. It'd be a nice change,” she said vaguely as she focused on parking alongside the school sidewalk, wanting to avoid the icy lot as much as possible. She was very grateful her dad had put chains on her tires more than ever—just on their ride to school they had passed a car that had skidded into a ditch. 

"Change? Bored with Forks already?" The graphite pencil in her hand made its last lines as she finished the detailed profile of Bella. 

Bella shook her head. She was embarrassed by what she was about to admit, but the bond between Rory and her was something she never had the fortune of having before. It was easy to confide in Rory. 

"No, it's just- you'll think I'm crazy- but I've been dreaming of Edward Cullen and he just drives me out of my mind—"

They both glanced at the corner of the lot where a silver Volvo was parked in its usual spot. The entire family seemed to have just arrived too. Rory locked eyes with the now back to gold ones of Jasper Hale before quickly averting them. It was a weird habit of theirs; they always locked eyes with each other but pointedly made no effort to speak to each other. 

Despite sharing almost every class, Rory hadn't made any progress with Jasper Hale. In fact, they seemed to regress; Jasper truly hated speaking to her and Rory knew when she wasn't liked. Other people seemed to like her a lot though. 

Aside from her first day overconfident blunder when she finished her lunch amongst the flawless beings (even though the Cullen's trays went untouched), Rory and Bella had decided to stick to the table with Jess, Eric, Angela, Mike, and their friends. Alice’s invitations hadn’t relented, but both girls agreed one bout of awkward silences and icy glares was enough for a lifetime. Plus, it was really disarming to try to eat when most of those around you were just staring at you like you were a science experiment. 

It was easier that way.

"Nice dreams, Bella?" Rory waggled her brows as she jumped out of the truck onto the icy gravel. 

From the other side, Bella rolled her eyes and shook her head, waiting for Rory on the safety of the sidewalk where the driver's side was. The girl in question had shut the door but struggled to shove her sketchbook back into her messy backpack full of textbooks and assignments. It was kind of a struggle. 

Bella sighed, crossing her arms. "Uh. Nightmares. I'm just tired of being confused by Ed—" 

The unexpectedly loud screech of rubber sliding on black ice interrupted their conversation. On opposite sides of the truck, Rory and Bella looked up to the source of the cacophonous sound, not fully registering what was happening as Tyler Crowley’s van was obviously sliding uncontrollably across the parking lot in their direction. 

One moment, Rory was listening to Bella's complaints about Edward Cullen and the next moment, a high-pitched screech and a never-ending hauntingly familiar honk was all Rory could hear. 

"—RORY, WATC—"

It all seemed to go quickly.

The calamitous screech of rubber and terrified shouts were all she could process. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. Rory was immediately thrown into the past as the sound of the tire sliding uncontrollably and screams echoed around her. 

_ Police sirens.  _

_ Her mother crying.  _

_ Rory's bloodied hands.  _

Her eyes shut tightly as she braced herself for impact. 

She inhaled sharply. 

Hello, Lu. 

A force hit her—not from the direction she was expecting—and she was paralyzed. 

Five. 

Four. 

Three. 

Two. 

When the ringing in her ears faded and Rory was physically knocked out of her episode and onto the icy pavement (which of course had to happen at the worst possible moment) she knew three things. 

First, Rory thought she had been crushed to death by the black van driven by one of their classmates. 

Two, she realized she wasn't actually dead and was technically unscathed. 

And three, Rory was surrounded by what felt like marble. 

No, not marble. 

Rory sluggishly lifted her head from his chest where he had folded her into a protective crouch with one hand gripping the small of her back. They were entangled in just a small enough space that kept either of them from being pancaked between the two heavy-duty vehicles. How? Her gaze went to the marble white hand that left a crater-sized dent on the side of Tyler's black van. It had to be pushing the van away. But as soon as she saw it, his hand disappeared as if it was never there. 

Rory gaped at her savior. 

He seemed just as surprised as she was to find him there. His honey blond waves and dark, stormy expression was unmistakable.

Jasper Hale. 

"What the fuck—"

Jasper dropped his hand from her waist as he kept his hard gaze on her. His expression was stony but Rory could see the worry in his eyes. 

“You’re alive.” Amazement filled his voice, disbelief almost. 

Same.

" _ Obviously _ . How in the fuck did you get here so fast?" Rory breathed out, her hands braced on the pavement, keeping her from falling over. 

"I was standing right next to you," Jasper said dourly.

Rory shook her head, knowing that was an outright lie. 

"You hit your head,” he clarified in a harsh, insistent tone. 

Yeah, on your chest, Rory thought bitterly. 

His hand reached down to her the left side of her forehead, it's cool temperature soothing the suddenly throbbing bump. 

"Ow," she bit her bottom lip as the pain hit her. Even if she hadn’t been squashed like a bug, she still felt like she had been hit by a train. Her entire body would be covered in bruises, she knew. 

Jasper sounded smug, "I told you."

"RORY!" Bella had been pulled back from the sidewalk by other nearby students, but as soon as she could break away, she was the first to arrive around the clear end of the collision. 

Half in tears, she stared at them in absolute relief and utter shock that Rory was unharmed as well as Jasper Hale. When the hell did he get here? 

Bella crouched beside Rory with a worried expression. "Are you okay?!"

"I-I think," Rory tried to stand, but her knees were weak with shock. 

"Don't move, Rory," Jasper muttered, his hand keeping her put as he slowly stood, completely unfazed by what had just happened. 

Another trauma to add to the pile. 

Just then, the screams and shouts had begun, and within seconds, what seemed like the entire school body had formed a sea of concern around the scene.

"Oh my god!"

"Someone get Tyler out of the van!" 

"I'm so sorry, Rory," Tyler said, deliriously rolling his car window down. A line of blood dripped down his brow. Jasper froze. "I panicked and lost control—"

"I have 911 on the line!" 

"I can't believe it—!"

It was as though none of the students knew how to act during an accident. Shrieking and crying and chaos filled the parking lot of traumatized teenagers. Jasper surveyed the crowd carefully and within seconds, the calamity had calmed down phenomenally. It was odd, the way he concentrated upon the panicked students, and they miraculously were no longer screaming or crying hysterically. 

Rory frowned but winced as a headache sprung. She surrendered to Bella and other people’s support, focusing on breathing while they waited for the authorities to arrive. Given it was a small town, it was a speedy arrival. 

It took nearly ten people to move Tyler's decimated van enough for the EMTs to bring in the stretcher for Rory and Tyler. 

Despite the pain in her head, she couldn't stop thinking about Jasper Hale as countless spoke to her. Somehow, he was able to slip away into the crowd and no one argued against it. In fact, besides Bella and Rory, no one really noticed Jasper Hale—more so their attention was with the new girls and Tyler. 

As she was loaded onto the ambulance, Rory spotted the eerie stares of the entire Cullen clan who still stood by their car, half a lot away. Really, the only people who didn’t pool around the scene of the accident. She and Bella saw with their own eyes the entire family across the parking lot before the crash; somehow Jasper Hale got to her in milliseconds—Bella couldn't even get to her in time. 

Their expressions ranged from anger to disbelief. Rory detected not a hint of worry, not even for their adopted brother who was nowhere to be found. Edward and Alice looked the least furious—the former kept his gaze trained on Bella as if he wanted to check on her himself. 

:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

  
  


“Aurora Elena Reyes Aden!" 

The seventeen-year-old winced at the sound of her mother's voice. The nurse attending Rory looked concerned, but she just mouthed ' _my_ _mother_ '. The nurse nodded understandingly and scribbled something else on her chart. 

"Hi, mama," Rory said quietly. 

Bella stood on Rory's bed in support. Rory had refused to get into the ambulance without Bella. She would’ve rather just been driven to the hospital by someone else. Ambulances only made her anxiety worse, given the last time she was in one. Plus, Bella was the only other person who had seen Jasper and what he had done. She didn't dare mention Jasper's impossible actions to anybody, she wasn't quite sure what even happened. 

Dr. Stella Aden was both very worried and angry. She had told her daughter to be careful. She was angry that she almost lost the last person she had. She had panicked when she was alerted that her daughter was involved in a car accident. Stella's mind immediately went to the dark place and barely resurfaced when she was told that Rory was unharmed. Having to wait in her own workplace had been absolute hell as her daughter had been rushed into the emergency room.

"Don't you ' _hi, mama_ ' me—"

"Bells!" The doors swung open again and a man with an impressive mustache and a police chief uniform jogged in, making a beeline to the girls. Bella's dad, Charlie Swan, had arrived. 

“Hey, dad,” she waved once. 

Her father looked absolutely flabbergasted that she was just sitting there, no problem, besides their new neighbors. He hadn’t heard the full story, only being told Bella had been involved and unharmed. He had to see for himself, of course. 

The curtain dividing the bed next to Rory moved. Tyler's patched-up head peaked out, "I'm so sorry, Rory. I swear I tried to stop. And I'm sorry about your car, Bella."

"It's _okay_ , Tyler," Bella reassured him. 

Rory smiled at him encouragingly. 

His medical team was trying to get him to remain behind the curtain as they finished treating him. His parents were quietly talking to the doctor. 

"It sure as hell is not okay," Charlie cut in gruffly. He had pulled Tyler over enough times for speeding in the last year. This was a serious matter that got too close to facing serious repercussions. 

Stella glared at the boy. "You are the one who—" Stella remembered she was an employee of the hospital and let out a loud exhale, wanting to get the full story of the accident. "What happened?”

Rory shook her head. "The roads are icy. It's not his fault—" she tried to explain. 

Stella turned to Rory sharply. A devastated expression crossed her face. "I nearly lost you," her voice cracked.

Both Aden women's minds went to the same place. Their stubborn expressions had softened. Bella and Charlie exchanged sympathetic looks. 

Rory grabbed her mom's hand, feeling better with her mother’s touch, even her headache eased. "But you didn't." 

Tyler's head popped out from the curtain once more, his face plastered with guilt (and a few butterfly bandages as well). "I really am sorry—"

Charlie glared at Tyler. "You can kiss your license goodbye." He pulled the curtain shut between them. 

“Why? It wasn’t Tyler’s fault. It was the ice,” Rory defended her classmate vehemently, fed up with how the adults were taking the situation out of proportion. “Leave it alone now, please. Just be happy we’re all alive. There are too many who can’t say the same.”

Her harshness silenced the room, especially Stella who had to wipe away some shed tears. 

"Heard our new surgeon's daughter was in," a new voice interrupted. 

The entire room's attention swerved to the gorgeous doctor who had just entered the emergency room. A tall, pale golden-haired man stopped in front of Rory's cot. 

The doctor recognized Bella and Charlie. “And the Chief’s daughter, too?" he noticed her sitting on the bed beside Rory. 

"Oh, no," Bella clarified, hopping off the cot awkwardly, "I'm fine, it's just I wanted to stay with Rory, for support and all. I mean, my truck was the one hit, but I was on the other side, and Rory—"

The doctor smiled at her with an alarmingly charming smile.

Immediately, Rory drew the similarities to another blond male. Same porcelain smooth skin and bright gold eyes. Rory and Bella exchanged matching conspiratorial looks. The connection was cemented by the next words from her mother. 

"Dr. Cullen," Stella acknowledged the pale blond man. "This is my daughter, Aurora. It would've been nice to introduce her to my colleagues in a different circumstance.” She narrowed her eyes at her daughter.

"It's Rory," she interrupted and eyed Dr. Cullen, "and as you all can see, I am perfectly fine. Tyler's van missed me by inches." 

Rory realized she probably should've amended her last statement as her mother's eyes became the size of golf balls. "Inches?!" 

"Dr. Aden," Dr. Cullen patted Rory's mother's arm comfortingly, but more so for his colleague to take a step back so he could check out his patient. He pulled out a tiny flashlight from his lab coat and turned to Rory, "Rory, can I have a look? I got this, Jackie." 

Jackie, the nurse trying to attend to Rory, handed the doctor her chart and left Rory with a nod. Obviously, the girl had a lot of people in her area. Dr. Cullen flipped through the chart of x-rays and paperwork before moving to do a physical check. 

Stella nervously watched as Dr. Cullen prodded Rory's head with careful expertise. She followed his routine with her own, scrutinizing every detail of her daughter for any other sign of harm. 

"Quite a nasty spill," Dr. Cullen said as he moved a flashlight from eye to eye. "You have a nice knot growing there but your x-rays show no indication of concussion. I expected worse when I heard about the accident." 

"Yeah, guess I'm just lucky,” she muttered darkly. 

Bella glanced at Dr. Cullen and back to Rory, expecting the girl to mention why she was lucky but Rory said nothing else. Bella was curious though. "It would have been a lot worse if Jasper hadn't knocked her out of the way."

Rory glared at Bella sharply. She had intentionally not mentioned the whole Jasper thing to anyone because she had yet to wrap her head around exactly what happened and didn't want to sound crazy—especially to her mother, the Cullen patriarch, and the Chief of Police. 

" _Jasper_?" Stella raised a brow. 

Charlie saw the connection. "Your boy?"

Dr. Cullen quickly looked back at the chart, averting his eyes from their curious stares. 

Rory raised her brow at this action and even Bella sensed he knew something. She pressed on further, determined to figure out the mystery of Edward Cullen and his family, despite Rory pinching her side. 

"It was amazing how he got to her so fast. I could barely warn Rory to get out of the way and he was there, knocking her down to safety. He was nowhere near us, _right, Rory_." Bella's hard stare left Rory no choice but to give in. 

Rory sighed deeply. "Yeah, count me lucky."

Dr. Cullen smiled at the girls brightly. "As long as everyone ended up alright." He signed her charts wordlessly. 

A few hours later, with a list of prescriptions and an ice pack, Rory was officially cleared to go home with a minor concussion and bad bruising. Bella and Charlie were long gone by Rory's insistence. She didn't want to inconvenience their family even more than the messed up truck. Besides, her mom had been given time off. 

"Listen, mija," Stella said as she walked Rory down the reception hall. "I have to go check on a couple of patients before we go home real quick, but so please wait in the cafeteria for me. They have excellent orange juice. I’ll text you." The mother and daughter pair hugged one last time before Stella had to go, leaving Rory alone. 

She began wandering down a corridor before she heard the sounds of an argument. Rory slowed her steps as she peeked down the end of the otherwise empty hallway where five familiar figures stood in a tight cluster. 

"—what were you thinking? That's right, you weren't! Fifteen kids witnessed—now we're all in jeopardy—"

Obviously pissed, Rosalie Hale was tearing into her apparent twin who seemed just as annoyed as he glared back at her. 

Dr. Cullen, Alice, and Edward appeared to play the intermediaries between the Hale twins. 

Jasper narrowed his eyes. "What? Was I just supposed to let her die—"

"This isn't just about you and your feelings," Rosalie sneered coldly, "it's about all of us—"

Jasper, towering over the group, stared down Rosalie until her furious expression suddenly flipped. In an instant, her glare dropped and had settled into a much more tolerable discontent. Her mood erratically changed, but her lecture was not over. 

In a calmer tone, she reprimanded him, "You will fix this, Jasper, or I'll ki—"

Without warning, Edward held his hand up, stopping Rosalie's next words. He discreetly tilted his head toward Rory and all five looked straight at her. 

Rory waved with a hesitant smile. 

Dr. Cullen spoke to his adopted children in a low voice, "Let's take this in my office."

Rory started a determined path down the hall, prepared to force Jasper Hale into giving her some answers, by all means, necessary, even if she had to shout at him in front of his family. 

There was no need to though, as Jasper remained in place while his family members left him, ushering themselves down the hall and into Dr. Cullen's office. 

Rory didn't miss Rosalie’s nasty look directed at her either. 

Jasper leaned against the hallway wall as Rory's boots clicked down the linoleum floor, staring her down the whole way through. His body tensed even more as Rory approached. 

"What do you want?" His tone was clipped and dismissive, but Rory wasn't deterred by it. 

"Can we talk?" Her voice was curt and dry. She didn't wait for his response, her hazel eyes bearing into his. "How did you get over to me so fast?" She craned her neck up as she searched his face for the truth. 

"I was standing right next to you, Rory," Jasper repeated, looking down at her as if she was stupid with a patronizing expression. 

He was really starting to piss her off. "I'm not an idiot, Hale.” Rory rolled her eyes. "Don't try to gaslight me. You were next to your family, across the lot." 

Jasper's nonchalant expression turned hard. "No." He stepped closer and lowered his voice into a smooth baritone. "I wasn't," Jasper stated firmly. He was trying his hardest to manipulate her emotions, but like before, Rory’s emotions were an uncontrollable inferno. 

No one could control her. 

"Yes." Rory stepped closer until her breath brushed Jasper's face. "You were."

"You hit your head.” His hand went to brush over the sore area, but he stopped himself from touching her head just in time. Leaving them in quite an uncomfortable predicament. 

The tension was unbearably thick. 

His Adam's apple bobbed as the blond withdrew slightly. 

"My head is fine," Rory glared at him heatedly, "What _isn't_ fine is that you’re refusing to explain to me what the fuck happened and I know there is a sane, reasonable explanation. So start _talking_ , Hale.” 

His lips twitched into a sneer. "You have quite the mouth, Miss Aden." Rory didn't miss his cold gaze flicker to her full lips. 

"Don't try to change the subject,” Rory scoffed, fire flickering in her eyes. "I know what I saw, Hale. You pushed Tyler's van away. I should have been crushed. I should have died. Except, I didn’t. Because of you.”

His expression turned murderous at her casual reference to her near-death experience. "No one will believe you." 

“I wasn't going to tell anyone," Rory said as though it was obvious. She made a mental note to speak with Bella later.

Jasper stared at her long and hard, deciding if she was being honest or not. His eyes searched her whole face. "Then why does it matter?" 

Rory countered his question with her own. "Why do I matter enough for you to save me?" 

He was stumped by Rory's question. Jasper sounded torn between a wave of dark anger that frightened Rory and a certain degree of vulnerability that surprised her. His perfectly shaped lips twitched downwards. "I don't know." 

Rory let out a frustrated breath. "Of course you don't." 

He stared into her expressive brown eyes flicked with green and gold specks. "You aren't going to let this go." 

"I just want to know the truth." 

He let out a morose laugh. "I hope you enjoy disappointment." 

Jasper exhaled roughly, before pushing himself off the wall and away from the intoxicating enigma called Rory Aden. He swiftly walked away from her, eager to be out of her sight so he could run home without any of the others stopping him to interrogate or lecture him further. A million emotions Jasper's never had to deal with of his own distracted him. Being around Rory Aden made him lose his control over his own emotions—he couldn't control hers and now his neither. 

"—Thank you!" 

Jasper paused. He was halfway down the hall already. He turned to look at her. Her face was open for once; unmasked by the facade she kept at school that intimidated everyone. 

Rory was thrown off by his looks. Sometimes she was able to somewhat ignore them, other times, like that moment, she couldn't. Jasper Hale was too beautiful for his own good. It was dangerous. 

She had to clear her suddenly dry throat. "Thank you for saving my life." 

His expression turned flat and somewhat resentful. 

"You shouldn't." 

That hauntingly beautiful look on his face, like a dark angel, struck her deeply. It was all she could see when she closed her eyes. That was the first painting Rory did of Jasper Hale. That tumultuous expression of raw conflict. Misplaced anger. 

It was probably her best work in all honesty and _it was done from memory_. Something about him had crawled into her mind and refused to leave. He was like a parasite, driving her insane by the irritating mystery shrouding his very existence. Rory was embarrassed she finished the piece and hid it underneath her bed the moment she finished.

_ Wow. I've really out-creeped myself out on this one. _

  
  


Later, Bella stopped by with Chinese take-out and too many theories on her mind. Rory was very full and contently chilling on her bed as the introverted brunette awkwardly stood in the middle of the bedroom. She was determined, much like how Rory was when she confronted Jasper earlier that day. 

Bella Swan had been keeping her suspicions to herself, but now, there was someone else who would understand. 

"So, is there a reason you're just standing there or should I just start throwing wild guesses?" Rory drawled, where she was sitting crisscrossed on top of her bed, her laptop singeing her thighs. She was definitely not supposed to be given her minor concussion, but she had two more seasons to finish watching and had been bored until Bella came over. 

Rory arched a brow. "Well, I _almost_ died so any thoughts of Eddie might have slipped from my mind." 

"That's the thing," Bella's voice reminded Rory of those conspiracists on Youtube. "You _didn't_ die. Why?" 

"Geez, Bella. I thought we were friends," Rory shook her head. "Sorry I survived."

Bella rolled her eyes at Rory's sardonic tone. "What I meant, Rory is that we both know why Tyler's van didn't crush you like it was supposed to. The ice was making the van slide side first directly onto the side of my poor truck." 

"Yeah, sorry about your baby, had to live somehow,” she drawled, rolling her eyes. 

"Rory, can you please listen to me?" Bella begged. "Jasper Hale stopped the van with his bare hands. He left a dent. Pushed a thousand-pound van away from you like it was nothing. And he's completely fine. That's impossible." 

"I read somewhere that some mother lifted a car off her kid once," Rory offered but Bella stared her down. 

They had both seen what happened. 

Rory didn't even know why she was trying to make excuses for the craziness of the situation. Whether it was a severe case of gaslighting or mental illness, Rory wasn't sure if she really wanted to find out.

"The Cullen's are hiding something—something huge," Bella said, her voice dropping into a whisper as if Edward himself was hiding in the shadows. "And I _need_ to figure it out. We both do."

Rory exhaled in defeat. "Okay, Bella. If we're going to discuss this, then I need you to promise me that this doesn't leave this room." Otherwise, people would think they were crazy and obsessive—which wouldn’t be far from the truth, but a psych ward wouldn’t exactly be fun, and no way was she going ever again, especially for a white man. 

"What if we have to do research in the library, huh?" 

Rory pinched her nose. "Okay, fine. Only between me and you. Because no one will believe us otherwise. And I'm pretty sure Jasper Hale might just kill me." 

Her friend's jaw dropped. "Kill you? He just saved your life today!" 

"Maybe he wanted to finish the job himself," Rory countered dramatically and half-seriously. "You don't see the way he looks at me, Bella. Like I'm ruining his life or I killed his cat. He straight up told me I shouldn't thank him for saving my life. Like it was an inconvenience to him."

Bella sighed, understanding the feeling all too well. "Edward told me we shouldn't be friends. On my first day here, he tried to switch out of our bio class after I sat beside him. And the entire class period, he acted like I smelled terrible or something,” she frowned deeply. 

"Ouch.” 

Maybe they were germaphobes. 

"Something about the Cullens..." Bella bit her lip and darted her eyes to Rory's silver laptop. "It’s strange. To some degree, they have really great senses. One time I dropped an apple at the salad bar and it practically bounced into Edward’s hands. They all have the same pale, poreless skin—"

Rory squinted at the girl. "—You're super pale, Bella. Maybe you're like them," she said cheekily. 

Bella rolled her eyes and continued. "—all of their eyes that change from a rich golden hue to the deepest coal-black and they're all impossibly flawless."

"Lucky genetics." 

"They're not related," Bella deadpanned. 

"True," Rory hummed. Her fingers began clicking away, typing Bella's astute observations. She let out a gasp and Bella stared at her in surprise. Rory slowly met Bella's anticipating gaze. "It says they...probably have jaundice." 

"Rory!" 

"Is anemia off the list?” 

Bella stared her down. 

“Fine, fine," Rory seriously scanned the search results. "Strong...fast..." she edited her search. Bella plopped herself beside the other brunette as they searched the different leads and possible answers. 

It was nearing three hours of reading through weird web results and various possible medical maladies before Rory slammed the laptop shut. Bella jumped out of her zoned out state. 

"Nada. There's nothing," Rory groaned, rubbing her reddened eyes. "We're never going to figure it out."

"We're missing something," Bella insisted. "We both want answers and we'll get them."

Rory patted Bella's head affectionately as she placed her laptop back on her desk. "Like Jasper said, we're gonna have to live with being disappointed,” she mocked his dour voice. 

At this, Bella raised a brow. "What is it with you and him, anyway?"

Rory's eyes involuntarily shot to where the painting of the blond was somewhat hidden underneath her bed. Bella didn't miss the movement. She narrowed her eyes. 

"Uh, what about you and Edward," Rory shot back. "You two have been orbiting around each other since you got here according to Jess."

She turned bright red. "Don't change the subject!" 

Rory rolled her eyes. "Mutual...dislike, but also a bit of respect I think. He did save my life."

"No..." Bella smirked and faster than a blink of an eye, she reached underneath the bed and pulled out the canvas. It was Rory's turn to go crimson while Bella's eyes widened. "You like him." Bella was impressed by how well Rory captured the blond Hale. She knew Rory was good, but not that good. 

Rory scoffed and snatched the canvas away from Bella's fingers carefully. "I don't like Jasper Hale. I don't know him. I'm just..." 

"—curious." Bella shared a look of understanding with Rory. "They're an attractive bunch aren't they?" 

"Damn straight." Rory snorted. "They're downright inhuman."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if it seems like it went a bit fast but the car crash is a v important plot device to push the relationships of the characters together. promise next few chaps will b a bit slower—jasper and rory are not gonna start dating as fast as edward and bella.


	5. ENIGMA

RORY'S WEEKEND WAS spent with her mother who had been granted a few days off work after the accident. It was much needed for the two Aden women since they hadn't had a chance to really spend time with each other since moving to Forks. 

Tears were shed while boxes of pizza and take-out sustained them amidst days filled with rom-coms and chick flicks. Rory made a note to learn some recipes or something because neither Aden women were the handiest in the kitchen. Cooking used to be Rory's father and sister's thing. They were both long gone now. 

However, once Monday arrived, Jasper Hale and the rest of the Cullens had begun to outright ignore her. Even Alice, who had been one of Rory's budding friends in the town, had resorted to simply smiling at her, but not pursuing any conversation or inviting her to lunch, shopping, etc. Alice's attention in Spanish went to their teacher, an unusual feat for the hyperactive girl. Rory had initially tried to keep confronting Jasper about what happened but he was never left alone with her—one of his siblings, usually Alice or Edward, always lingered nearby and ushered away if she got too close. They didn't want to speak to her. 

Rory tried not to take it personally. 

The week following the accident kept Rory as the center of attention again. She had become some sort of damsel-in-distress type after the accident. Tyler was determined to make up for nearly killing her by trying to become her boyfriend, much to her disdain and of one of the other girls at their lunch table, Laura or something like that. He, and several other boys, wouldn't leave her alone. Carrying her books, buying her lunches, to blatantly being asked out—which she turned down. She wasn’t really in the right headspace to date _anyone_ , as sweet as their intentions might be. 

It took Rory blurting out a lie that she had a boyfriend back in Texas to get Tyler, as well Mike, Eric, and a few other relentless boys at their table to back off. The lie incidentally sent the boys straight back to Bella, who had been basking in the absence of unwelcome attention. With Bella back to Forks high school boys' main target, Rory conspicuously faded to the unattainable new girl—still fawned over, but given some breathing space at least. 

"So, what's your boyfriend's name again?" Jess asked curiously one day in Biology II. They were the only juniors in the class full of seniors. 

It had been almost two weeks since the accident and Rory was becoming very well adjusted to her new life. Forks had become home despite her rocky start. 

Rory was suddenly aware of the familiar piercing feeling of someone staring at her. She glanced around and her eyes met Jasper Hale's cold gaze. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Jess, who stared at her expectantly. 

"His name is Phillip," Rory's smile didn't betray her inside-joke, despite feeling bad about lying to Jessica. 

She nodded thoughtfully, trying to make up a face to put to her good friend's mysterious boyfriend. "Phillip? From your old school? Do you have a picture?" 

Rory's smile tensed as she figured out another lie. “Ah, this is a new phone actually. I haven’t had a chance to download any from my laptop.” 

In reality, she had indeed been dating someone back in Texas, a boy named Fred Mallory. She had dated him for two years, but she didn't technically break up with him—she just outright cut him out of her life after what he did.

Rory was still repressing everything that happened, she never spoke about it to anyone and she especially didn't want her new friends to know who she really was or why she had really moved halfway across the country in the middle of the school year. They didn’t need to know about her stay in the psych ward. She had cut off all communication to those people and blocked him on all social media—it was especially easy when they decided to move across the country.

"Aw, you must really miss him," Jess said sympathetically. 

Rory faked a smile. "Yeah, Phil's the best.” 

"You should invite him up here! I know Sadie’s is too soon, but prom is only two months away," Jess suggested brightly, her eyes glowing as she thought of the upcoming Spring dance. "I'm sure he'd be happy to come up here from Texas since you've been together for so long and all. Like I'm sure the boys would've back off a long time ago if we all knew..." 

Rory's voice was tight. "Maybe. I'll see." She really regretted that she had no option but to lie about having a boyfriend to get Forks boys to leave her be. All that she had compartmentalized about Texas and Fred Mallory and her broken family had cracked with all this talk she had brought upon herself. She tried to not let it show, growing unusually quiet for the rest of the class. 

She eagerly escaped Jessica's questions about her made-up boyfriend hurriedly, barely hearing Mr. Molina remind them about the upcoming field trip to the local greenhouse.

The rest of the day, Rory was distracted and trying her best to crumble into her depression as memories wouldn't escape her mind. A few of her friends had noticed by lunch and were rightfully concerned, but Rory just rambled some excuse about not feeling well. She really wanted to go home, but she didn’t want her mom to worry. 

In her last class, Rory slid into the desk next to Jasper Hale wordlessly. She was used to his cold ignorance of her by now. She didn't expect to hear his smooth, honey-like voice interrupt her thoughts close to the end of class. 

"You're from Texas." 

It was more of a question than a statement. 

Rory dragged her tired eyes from Mr. Bryce who was droning about group projects to Jasper's stunning face. It was so annoying how attractive he was, trying to fool her mind despite her growing grudge against him. 

"Eavesdropping, Hale?" She raised an eyebrow, but he just rolled his eyes at her sneer. They were inexplicably dark today, closer to obsidian than amber. 

"Irrelevant to my question."

"So what? Is the Jasper Hale speaking to me now?" she drawled sarcastically, thankful they were in the back of the room. "You didn't technically ask me anything, by the way."

He was unimpressed and tilted his head pointedly, clearly wanting an answer. 

She pursed her lips, thinking of his entitlement. "San Antonio." She checked to make sure their conversation hadn’t gained any unwanted listeners. "Why do you care, all of a sudden?"

"I'm from Houston," he smiled at her brilliantly and she was taken aback, stupefied from his hypnotic perfection combined with a southern drawl. 

Of course, she had suspected he was from the south by the way he spoke at times. When he bothered to speak to her of course. 

“Explains the drawl,” she pointed out dumbly, still confused where his sudden friendliness had come from.

His eyes sparkled and Rory had to catch her breath. 

“I haven't been there for...a while," Jasper admitted, a glimmer of something softer and almost innocent showed through his usually stoic facade. "I miss it a lot. Apart from the somehow undying racism—I don’t get why they have so much pride in losing—there’s so much history there.” 

Rory could understand. While she was happy in Forks, she missed the heat of Texas and her remaining friends and family still residing there. She had been so happy there. Then the memories of what happened hit her once more and her mood soured again. She narrowed her eyes darkly at Jasper who had a reminiscent look upon his beautiful features. 

"What do you want?" Her tone hardened. She didn't forget how he and his siblings—she cared mostly about Alice—had ignored her for weeks. 

Jasper returned his eyes to hers. They were full of curiosity and...regret. Rory's eyes flared angrily. 

"I don't want anything," Jasper responded coldly and thoughtlessly. 

He ran a hand through his waves exasperatedly at her furious and offended expression. He really had no idea how to navigate around a conversation with her. He was used to having his ability to steer socialization with humans, but he clearly had none of that with Miss Mountain of Emotions. It was like he was a scientist attempting to engineer the sea. No one could control the sea. He wondered what had happened to her to make her such an emotional pandemonium. 

"Well, then you should've realized that before and saved yourself from all this regret I've caused you," Rory sneered, hiding her hurt feelings. 

"—Ms. Aden and Mr. Hale?"

The semi-arguing pair looked up to see the entire class staring at them expectantly. Rory was embarrassed; she prided herself on being well-liked by her teachers and being caught having a conversation during a lecture(?) (she had stopped paying attention to what was going on the minute Jasper Hale opened his perfect mouth) would not do well for her reputation. 

"Of course we will take that topic on, Mr. Bryce," Jasper answered their teacher smoothly and without hesitation. He seemed to know exactly what was going on much to Rory's utter confusion. "Rory and I happen to both come from a Texas background. The civil war's effect on societal norms will be no problem for us." Jasper winked at Rory who still held a dumbfounded look on her face. 

Mr. Bryce smiled at Jasper approvingly and then set his gaze on Rory who immediately faked a confident smile. His brief feeling of apprehension was swept away sooner than he felt it. "Good, good," he settled on saying before rambling on about due dates and requirements. 

As soon as the teacher's attention was elsewhere, Jasper frowned at her, falling back into their previous conversation seamlessly as though the interruption had never occurred. "Regret? For what?" 

Rory let out a dry laugh. "I know what regret looks like, Jasper. You should have just let Tyler's van flatten me. Would’ve been more convenient." Her tone was sardonic and cruel. Self-deprecating and careless of her own wellbeing.

He stared her down in disbelief. Jasper sounded almost pissed as he responded. "You think I regret saving you?" The way he phrased it made her sound like an idiot. 

Rory wasn't one to back down from a fight. She matched his glare. "I know you do." 

He couldn't hide his anger at her assumption. He ground his teeth, "You don't know anything." 

The sudden blaring of the bell saved Jasper from the full blast of Rory's fury. As the class filed out, Rory wordlessly packed her belongings and shoved them in her backpack, ignoring Jasper's lingering presence, standing in her way. She moved—well attempted to move—past Jasper, in what was meant to be a nice little shoulder-check, failing miserably and only bruising both her ego and her own shoulder. 

He looked concerned and reached for her. "Wait, Rory—" 

She was having none of it. Her mind couldn't take both the unraveling of her repressed memories and the enormous confusion and anger that came with interacting with Jasper Hale. 

She met up with Bella at the red truck that still had a bad dent in the tail end from the accident. 

"Bad day?" 

Rory's exasperated grunts and huffs said everything. Bella patted her comfortingly and thought of something to distract her friend. 

"Edward spoke to me today," she said with an annoyed tone. Bella received the same treatment from Edward as Rory did from Jasper. "Some crap about how we shouldn't be friends again and how I just need to trust him. As if!" 

Bella pulled out from the parking spot with a loud growl of her engine. Then Bella growled for real when a silver Volvo cut her off. She cursed as the car refused to move, starting an unnecessary traffic jam. A line began to form as Edward Cullen waited for his family to come. Rory and Bella glanced back at the entrance of the school, where the other two Cullens and Hales were slowly making their way to the Volvo. Rory involuntarily glared at the sight of Jasper Hale. Stupid beautiful idiot. 

"Bloody Cullens," Rory sighed and leaned her head lightly on the cold glass window. "If you want me to, I'll punch him in the face for you Bella. After I punch Jasper Hale of course." 

Bella snorted and shook her head. "Don't get too angry over there, Bruce Banner." Bella's sarcastic tone faded as she noticed someone approaching. 

Rory arched her brow in interest as Tyler Crowley approached the truck with a determined look on his face. 

Bella attempted to roll down her window, but it stopped halfway. She looked at Tyler apologetically, "Sorry—I'm stuck behind Cullen." 

Rory stifled a laugh because it was obvious Tyler Crowley didn't leave his car with the engine still running and his door open, to complain about the traffic jam. 

Bella realized that suddenly too late as Tyler began asking her to the upcoming dance. 

"Sorry Tyler, I'm going out of town this weekend," Bella said hurriedly for the third time that day. At first, when Eric had asked, the Seattle trip excuse was sort of bogus because she was definitely sure her truck would not make it to Seattle without many expensive gas stops. 

"Oh," Tyler looked down at his feet, his face was scrunched up when he looked back at Bella, "Eric said that."

Poor, oblivious, Bella frowned. "Then why—"

"I thought you were just letting him down easy," Tyler explained with pursed lips. 

Rory had to bite her lip to keep herself from bursting out in laughter. 

"I am really going out of town," Bella glanced sideways at her friend struggling to hide her laughter, "with Rory." 

Rory's smile dropped as she was roped into Bella's excuse. Bella looked at her both pointedly and pleadingly. 

"Yeah, Crowley. Shopping and stuff," Rory cemented Bella's excuse lamely. She thought back to her first day when Alice had said it would be the perfect time to go shopping. Too bad she had decided they couldn’t be friends anymore. 

Rory's eyes drifted from Tyler's to the golden ones of Jasper Hale as he passed by. Before he entered Edward's Volvo, he raised an eyebrow at Rory questionably. Rory clenched her jaw and looked away, ignoring the hotness of her cheeks. 

"Oh look," Rory pointed to the moving silver car. "Nice talking to you, Ty, but there's a whole line of cars waiting, so if you're done..."

Tyler stiffened in embarrassment and meagerly went back to his new sedan. 

Bella was distracted by Edward once more; she could see his eyes on her in the reflection of his rearview mirror where he shook with laughter. Bella revved the engine almost threateningly, desperately wanting to accidentally bump into the silver car the smallest bit. Fortunately for Edward's silver car, he was already speeding away. 

Rory shook her head. "Well, if we have no choice, but to go out of town, you know what that means, Bella."

Apprehensively, Bella gulped. “Shopping.” 

:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

  
  


When she got home, the house was empty as usual. Rory couldn't blame her mom for working as many shifts as possible at the hospital, it kept Stella’s mind busy and paid off the compiling bills. Rory, however, wished school didn't last as long as it did. She wished she had time to just lie in bed and cry her eyes out, but she had to be stronger than that. She had to be strong for her sister. 

Rory finished her homework in no time even though it felt like forever. Her mind had been run through to emotional exhaustion. She was torn on what to do now. Memories kept playing through her mind nonstop. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. She needed to do something. 

Should she sleep or cry or...her eyes darted to her bathroom door where she imagined the object taped under the sink. She got up from her desk and took one step towards—no. No, Rory reminded herself, you have to be strong. 

She glanced at the clock on her desk. 

Turning away from the allure of numbness promised by what was behind the bathroom door, Rory grabbed an empty backpack, filled it with a few essentials, and walked out the door. She stood on her backyard porch and stared out into the dense forest that promised an escape. With shaky resolve and not a thought to the warnings of a dangerous animal in the forest, Rory marched on. 

The darkness ebbed the further she strayed. It was nearing twilight when Rory finally stopped in a dense forest alcove just off the path. She was lost. Good. She’ll just use her phone to navigate back to society when she manages to get herself under control again. In the farthest part of her mind where her logic was presently locked up, she knew it was dangerous and stupid, but she needed to control some fragment of her reality. Disappearing into the forest to not exist for a few hours seemed like a reasonable compromise at that point. 

Setting her backpack down, Rory laid out the thick quilt onto the damp grassy area beneath a large evergreen. She spent an hour sketching the greenery around her, with no mind to the accumulating stains from her oil pastels and charcoals. There was more to the green haze that made up Forks, Rory realized as she used colors she never thought of—deep and vivid reds, blues, yellows, and even the golden crumble of the leaves. It was breathtaking. 

It was only when it was too dark for her to add another splash of color onto the page that Rory was hit with the hair-raising realization she had no idea how to get home, let alone see any marked path. She was fucked. 

She packed away her things quickly with a sudden dose of panic. She pulled out her cell phone only to find no service. She shined the light from her small flashlight and only found trees. Rory was breathing way much too quickly to have a coherent thought. She was alone in the cold forest as the sunlight disappeared through the trees. 

_Crack_

She spun around with every hair standing on end. Something was watching her. She wasn't alone. 

Rory was the prey and something told her the predator was very, very hungry. 

She could run. Shout. Fight back. But an introspective feeling of acceptance hit her. She had been ready for quite some time. 

She calmed herself. Let out a slow exhalation. 

Her voice was empty as her eyes fluttered close. "I'm sorry, mama. I think I'll be with Luna now." 

A growl and a cacophonous crash echoed through the trees like an avalanche of boulders. Rory immediately crouched, covering her ears. 

The next thing she knew, a bark and loud sniffs were heard. Rory looked up and squinting with the assistance of scattered moonlight, found a dog waiting in front of her. She couldn't quite tell the breed but it was fairly big. 

She totally thought she was going to be eaten by some bear, wolf, or something else. Relief flooded her body. A little adrenaline caused her to let out a hysterical laugh. “Haha. I thought you were going to eat me! Honestly, though, I wouldn’t surprise myself if I tried to fight you off if you were a grizzly bear, perhaps you could’ve helped the bear. That bitch would’ve needed it.” She was talking out of her ass because she was both hysterical and manic. 

The dog barked again, trotting closer to her until its head was bowed before her. A smile broke out on her face and she reached her hand out to pet it.

It woofed happily and licked her extended hand. "I don't suppose you know the way back to civilization? Safety? House?” Perhaps the dog had been trained as a service dog. 

The dog sniffed her a couple of times, walked in a circle, and then stopped behind Rory, the opposite direction she had been walking. The dog barked once and began leading a path through the trees. It stopped every few meters to make sure Rory was right behind. Eventually, Rory could hear the sound of cars and see the street light through the tree line. All thanks to the angel of a dog leading her through the darkness.

"Rory!" 

She broke through the trees tiredly, emerging onto her street, to quickly find her yard filled with neighbors and townspeople. Bella had been standing next to her father when she spotted the figure emerging from the forest. 

As soon as she got close, Rory was bombarded with people and questions. Her mother had run to her with an expression of horror and worry. 

"Where have you been?" Stella asked frantically, looking her daughter over for any sign of harm. 

"We've been looking for you for hours," Bella explained, breaking through the crowd with Charlie beside her. 

"I wanted to clear my head so I went for a walk to find something to draw," Rory answered guiltily. "I got lost. Then, buddy over here found me and led me outta the woods." 

The dog remained at Rory's side, faithfully sitting at her feet. Pointy ears perked up and the dog looked up at Rory before settling down again. Stella smiled at the dog gratefully, rubbing behind the dog’s ears. 

"We were about to send a search party," the chief of police said with a frown, but otherwise glad she was okay. "Bella told your mom you hadn't been feeling well today. We were afraid the worst happened. We still don't know what type of killer animal is hiding in the woods. You should really not go there alone, Rory." 

"I came home early. You were gone, no note, no call." Stella swallowed her dry throat. "It was like Texas all over again. I called Charlie and asked the neighbors...you really scared us, Rory." 

Rory looked around her where neighbors and classmates she barely knew had gathered to apparently form a search party. A sudden warm feeling filled her. "I am so sorry," Rory apologized looking down guiltily. "I wasn't thinking. I thought I'd be home before you. I still should've at least texted you, mom," she apologized, hugging her mom. “I won’t ever do that to you again.”

"All that matters is that you're safe now," Stella murmured in her daughter's hair. 

All Rory could think of was that she didn't think she was as safe as she once thought. Something dangerous was in Forks. Rory wasn't sure she was going to be left alone now.

:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

Deep in the woods, three figures stood at the exact spot where Rory had been. It had been close. Far too close. A male picked up the abandoned quilt delicately, her flowery scent rippling off the fabric and causing his throat to burn more. 

The female eyed him curiously. "I saw you decide to kill her. What changed your decision?" 

"How did you stop yourself?" The other male questioned him. "If I was hunting...alone and starving with Bella like that...I can't even imagine. You can't even feel her emotions so that can't have stopped you." 

He folded the quilt carefully and faced his siblings. Jasper Hale opened his coal-black eyes, tinged with guilt and framed by purple bruise-like under eyes. Alice and Edward, who had rushed to find him after Alice's vision, expected to discover a tragic accident but instead found the wavy-haired blond standing still as a statue in the middle of the woods. 

"She wasn't afraid to die."


	6. NOT MY TYPE

THE NEXT DAY, Rory and Bella were almost late to school. It was Rory’s fault as she had to take her newly adopted dog, Orion–who turned out to be some kind of mixed husky breed that had taken to Stella and Rory all too well–on a morning walk which had taken more time than she expected. It was a trying night again, but it had woken Rory up. She needed to be more responsible for herself. 

Entirely frazzled, Mr. Molina accepted their permission slips and directed them to wait with the others for the two buses that were transporting the students to the local community college's greenhouse. Both the biology and the AP biology classes were attending the field trip. 

"Bella!" Mike Newton was the first to spot them.

Like Tyler Crowley and Eric Yorkie before him, the athletic blonde had a determined stride and a hopeful expression like a puppy. Before he even opened his mouth, Rory knew exactly where this was going. 

His blue eyes turned to Rory nervously and back to Bella hopefully, "Hey, Rory. I heard they almost sent out a search party for you last night. I'm glad you were okay though." 

"Word gets around quick in this town," Rory drawled with a shake of her head. "I got a new best friend outta the ordeal. Her name's Orion and I've only had her for one night, but if anything were to happen to her, I'd kill everyone and then myself." 

Mike nodded distractedly. He was staring at the girl beside Rory. "Um, Bella—can I talk to you about something?" 

Bella was too nice to say no, so she looked at Rory pleadingly. 

Rory found it quite amusing as he stared at Bella with big, pleading, blue eyes. She snickered and after patting Bella playfully, hoping the girl got a grip and spoke up for herself. She wandered over to Jessica, who turned out to be overly concerned with Bella and Mike's conversation. She rambled on about the subject of the pair’s conversation.

Rory shook her head, her hands shoved deep in the pockets of her jacket to keep herself warm. It was way too cold in Washington, she still wasn’t used to it. 

Feeling eyes on her, she looked up to find Jasper, Alice, and Edward standing nearby. The three were muttering to each other, but Jasper's now golden ocher eyes would rise to her every so often. 

Rory couldn't help but note that he looked especially attractive today, wearing a well-fitted black turtleneck long-sleeve under a black leather jacket and tapered light-wash designer jeans, paired with black boots. As he brushed his hair back, she noticed the arrangement of thick gold rings stacked on his fingers. 

A sudden image popped up in her head of long, elegant fingers wrapped around...Rory looked away, missing the sudden shit-eating grin that had appeared on a bronze-haired boy’s face. 

Rory decided the flush to her skin was attributed to the cold weather. 

"—think he's seriously asking her to prom? The boys are determined to snap Bella up since she's going out of town this weekend for Sadie Hawkins and you’re apparently unavailable." 

She tuned back into Jessica's worrying as she dragged her eyes away from Jasper Hale's. 

Rory concentrated on the pavement as she answered her friend. "Nah. I think Mike will ask you. After all, you're going with him to Sadie's this weekend." 

Rory couldn't help but glance at Jasper, standing so close yet still so far away. Would it be weird to say something? Yes. But she still wanted to. 

Jessica beamed at her, oblivious to Rory’s inner turmoil. “You're so right, Rors. I have nothing to worry about." Her voice was falsely positive, badly hiding her concern. 

It seemed Bella and Mike were finally done talking about whatever, the latter looking crestfallen, but Rory didn't get a chance to interrogate as Mr. Molina ushered them all onto their assigned buses. He had assigned buses according to last names, which meant she was separated from all her friends. This meant the bus she would ride was also the one in which three golden-eyed beautiful people were also assigned. Perfect. 

Rory filed onto the bus and scanned for open seats. Edward and Alice already sat together and Jasper was by himself across the aisle. No one dared to sit with him even though the bus was quickly filling up. 

"Rory! Over here!" Tyler tried to call her over to the back of the bus. 

The brunette faked a smile and had no choice, but to squeeze down the narrow bus aisle. Just as she shuffled past the middle of the bus, Rory stumbled and tripped over someone's bag. She expected to face-plant on the dirty, rubber floor—thoroughly embarrassing herself—she could practically taste the grimy school bus floor, but then two pale-white hands shot out like a blur and grabbed her. 

Rory humphed and looked at the owner of the large pair of cold hands that held her up by her elbows. Of course. Jasper Hale. His brow was arched as they stared each other down—her with resentment and he mockingly. 

There was an exasperated line of students waiting behind Rory for her to get a hold of herself. Hearing the complaints, Rory tactlessly pulled away from Jasper's iron-like grasp. 

"Thanks," Rory muttered, averting her gaze because she tended to get lost in his honey eyes. She felt the stares of Alice and Edward on them. 

Jasper let out an impossibly graceful and elegant snort. "I wasn't just going to let you fall and do nothing, Rory. Chivalry ain't dead yet." 

She rolled her eyes, still not sure what to make of Jasper Hale's whiplash decision to speak to her again—and she walked away to a waiting Tyler Crowley where she suffered his bad attempts at flirting until the bus arrived at the community college. 

Joining Bella and Jessica's side, Rory was glad to not feel as suffocated as she did in the too tiny bus. As Mr. Molina led the way down the greenhouse, she lamented her awful almost embarrassment to her friends' amusement, only resulting in her turning even more red than if she had just fallen when she admitted that Jasper Hale had caught her. Rory refused to give in to their drivel. They were nearing the end of the greenhouse when Bella had split off to talk to Edward Cullen of all people. 

"Jasper Hale is really gorgeous," Jessica whispered with a giggle and an appreciative glance at the leonine back of the 6'3 blond walking a few people ahead of them. He was stoic as usual with Alice animatedly speaking to him. Rory groaned. Trust Jessica to never leave any topic—especially of gossip—open-ended. 

Rory had already been watching Jasper discretely for the last half hour, including the small lecture by the tired, overworked greenhouse TA and while they explored the greenhouse, so she noticed when he appeared to turn his head the slightest bit when his name came up as if they had called his attention despite their quiet whispers.

"—too bad, he's with Alice Cullen and all." 

Rory turned her head so fast. "Actually no he's not,” she immediately corrected her. Jessica was a bit startled at Rory's sudden impassioned tone and quick movement. She settled herself and cleared her throat. "They're not together after all," she informed Jessica. 

"Oh," Jessica said shortly. A smirk grew on her pretty features. "It's quite funny how quick you disputed that, Rory. Careful, there, you're looking a bit green-eyed." she giggled at Rory's crimson face. 

"I just don't like false gossip," Rory commented, keeping her gaze straight and incidentally on Jasper's figure. He had looked back at them again, this time, his angelic features hinted at the ghost of a smug smirk. 

She didn't like that look on his face and she didn't like it, even more, when Jasper seemed to linger in front of a selection of dark green and purple ferns, purposefully waiting behind for her it appeared. He had an intense look of slightly comedic concentration on his face as he observed the ferns. Rory tried to dart around his figure like everyone else, but he smoothly slid in position next to her. He glanced at Jessica once and she traitorously left Rory for Mike's side with a high-pitched giggle. 

"Are you following me or something?" Rory asked curtly. She looked up at him sideways. He had a small smirk on his face. 

"Following you? No, I was just taking in the beauty of Forks ever luscious green life." To an outsider's view, Jasper's and Rory's matching dry sarcastic wit was adorable. To Rory, it was aggravating. 

"You should be more careful, Rory," Jasper said with a now serious tone. "I heard you were almost attacked in the woods last night."

Rory paused and her brows furrowed in confusion. "I didn't tell anyone that. Is that the rumor going on about now?" 

If Rory wasn't watching him so closely, she would've missed the way he froze for a microscopic second. "Yes," he agreed almost heatedly. "That's what I heard. My advice remains essential though." 

She huffed. "Okay, Hale, what sort of fucked up game are you playing?" Rory was one to get straight to the point. She glared ahead of her, still too irritated to look at the honey-haired boy beside her. 

"Game?" Jasper's smooth tone was genuine and full of curiosity. 

"Yeah—this whole push-and-pull bullshit you keep playing with me," Rory retorted bitterly, crossing her arms in an attempt to get a grip on her uncontrollable temper she only seemed to have around him. And also to warm herself up—Jasper wasn't exactly a walking furnace, more so a living freezer. 

"Is that one of your theories?" 

Rory's left eye twitched. She glared at Jasper, who had that irritatingly beautiful mocking expression. They were now the last ones amongst the greenery; remaining behind everyone else who had filed out in the parking lot already in an attempt to keep a semblance of privacy from their nosy classmates.

It was like a dam exploded. "First of all, you act like you hate me half the time—don't deny all the glares—I'm not blind. Then, you miraculously save my life—literally out of the hero's playbook by the way—refuse my thanks, and then you and your siblings—and I mean Alice because she actually wanted to befriend me—ignore me like nothing happened. Now, you're suddenly speaking to me again and you know things I haven't told anyone else and you're trying to give me advice?" Rory spieled out all that had accumulated between her and Jasper Hale. "It's horribly confusing and I do not have the patience or stamina to deal with whatever this is anymore. Make up your mind, Hale. Hate me, like me, ignore me—just fucking choose before I lose the last remaining part of my mind." 

Jasper frowned but also kept his gaze ahead of him. "I...hadn't realized I had such an effect on you. I don't want to be the bad guy, Rory, but I'm not the good guy either. Believe me, I have had no intention of playing games with you, Rory. Whatever I do, I have done to protect you." 

She scoffed. "Don't sound so self-righteous. Of course, with all your stupid good looks and heroics, your bipolar moods may have dampened my otherwise happy perspective of Forks."

"I truly apologize, Rory," he began carefully. "I just...don't know how to exactly..."

"Make friends? Be nice? Not make a girl feel hated for unbeknownst reasons?" 

"Be normal," Jasper admitted, his eyes and tone serious. "I want to be, but you...unnerve me."

"I unnerve you," Rory let out a bark of laughter, startling him slightly. "Life is full of irony." 

"It's difficult for me to be around you," Jasper frowned. "I have to go against all my instincts, what my family says, to be here. Beside you." 

"Ouch," Rory wrinkled her nose. 

Jasper recoiled. "I meant—I can't get a read on you. You're unpredictable and you throw me off. I have no control around you." He looked slightly constipated as he admitted that aloud to her. "You should stay away from me." 

"That sounds like a  _ you _ problem," Rory replied sardonically even if her expression didn't match her tone. "Stop trying to control me. You don't even know me."

"It's a dangerous problem for the both of us," Jasper retorted angrily. He exhaled, his face twisting in pain before flattening like granite rock. "And I shouldn't get to know you as much as I want to. Somehow, nothing bad has happened. Yet. Our paths weren't meant to cross and result in a happy ending. For me at least."

Rory wanted to argue against his belief they would be dangerous together. Friendship wise, of course. But even she couldn't deny the way he, and his siblings, made everyone around them feel uneasy. 

"What if I like danger? What if I don't believe in happy endings? Or that the world is divided into good guys and bad guys?" She shot back. "Like I said, you don't know me. Maybe I like living on the edge." 

"Maybe you should like living more," he muttered under his breath, too fast for her ears.

"So that's it then?" Rory scoffed. "Back to acting like I don't exist."

He spun around and ended up centimeters away from her, their toes almost touching as he glared into her eyes.

"I am very aware of your existence at all times, Rory." The corner of his mouth lifted cynically. "It's not a good thing, darling." He began to make his way to the exit. 

She wasn't going to let him walk away again with riddles and nonsense. Rory grabbed his hard, ice-like hand. Ignoring his shocked expression, she narrowed her eyes. "There's no going back now, Hale. You opened the gates, let me in."

Gold met hazel. 

It seemed like deep, introspective searching looks were their thing. Rory craned her head up to stare at him defiantly and challenging while he stared down with resolve and helplessness.

"—Ms. Aden, Mr. Hale, the bus is ready to leave." Mr. Molina's shout stopped their stare-off. 

They stiffly exchanged one last look at each other once more and walked to the bus, barely noticing their hands were still locked together until she felt him tug her from going to sit by Tyler Crowley. Feeling the stares of everyone on the bus, Rory sighed and backtracked to the plastic bench Jasper stood next to. Alice smiled happily while Edward stared at her and Jasper broodingly. 

"Stupid good looks?" Jasper had murmured to her as she had no choice but to sit with him. She kept her gaze on the blue in front of her, while feeling eyes on her from all directions. 

Her face was crimson and her hands were cold, but Rory felt an immense sense of giddiness and satisfaction. "You are irritating."

:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•

Forks public school education system was nothing like Rory ever experienced. As it was such a small town, Rory was on set to graduate before the rest of her friends. Rory's schedule comprised all of the AP and honor classes offered at Forks; which meant that after her junior year, there would be no more higher-level classes available for her to take. It explained why she and Jasper Hale had so many classes together even though he was a senior like his adopted siblings, Rosalie and Emmett Cullen. 

Speaking of Jasper Hale, Rory was not sure what they were any more or how to react nowadays. 

He still looked uncomfortable and pained but that seemed to be his reaction to everyone. Like he was struggling with himself over something Rory could only guess on. She honestly felt so bad that Jasper was in any type of pain being around so many people. Especially when people got too close to him or whenever Alice or Edward or any of his siblings left him alone. Rory was beginning to understand his cold facade was nothing personal. 

(Against her at least.)

(Anymore that is.)

Gone were the glares and avoidance, but the mystery remained. He was warming up to her—figuratively—and Rory couldn't fight the warm feeling he set upon her soul whenever he looked at her. He was trying—they both were—to figure out how to deal with whatever magnetic force kept pushing them together. 

Rory had her theories—Bella was quite the influence—and each theory was more outlandish than the last. Rory didn't have a chance to talk to Jasper in their first two classes together because exams and oral presentations took precedence. As always, their quality experience comprised of intense glances and brief exchanges. 

Mr. Molina's biology II class was sort of a mess in Rory's opinion. They jumped from subject to subject and everyone seemed to go with it. Maybe that's just how it went in Forks. Because while they literally just had a field trip to a greenhouse, apparently the word in the street (the school hallways) was that they were now on blood typing.

Which was why when Rory and Jess walked into biology the following Monday after the field trip that took place on Thursday— Jess had been thoroughly describing her and Mike's night at the Sadie Hawkins dance—Rory was very thrown off to not find her brooding blond sitting at the black-topped lab desk behind her own. Not that he was hers. Or that she cared he skipped class. 

Rory was a mess. Let her live. 

"No Jasper Hale today?" Jess asked as she set her bag down. 

"Why would you ask me?" Rory responded too quickly and nervously. 

"Don't you have first and second hour with him?" Jess rose one eyebrow. Then her expression changed as she watched Rory fidget and become unusually tongue-tied. She tilted her head knowingly. "Do you and Jasper have like a thing now?" 

"No!"

"What about Phillip?" Jess was eager for gossip. 

"Wh—I mean, yeah. Phillip. My boyfriend. I have one of those. Which is why me and Jasper can definitely not be a thing," Rory stammered through. 

"Long-distance relationships never last anyways. So, if you suddenly decide to call it off and be single—I won't judge you," Jess said almost convincingly. "Besides, it's Jasper Hale. He's so gorgeous and intimidating. And you're the only person in this town besides the teachers that he even bothers to acknowledge. That's something. If I was Phillip, I wouldn't blame you at all." 

Rory slapped her forehead and groaned. She really wished she could tell Jess and everyone else the truth. 

"You can tell me anything, Rory," Jess said as they worked on puncturing themselves to find out their blood type. Rory didn't mention she already knew hers—O Negative—as a deep part of her enjoyed the pain. 

"Nothing to tell." Rory watched in fascination as a large bead of blood pooled at the tip of her index finger. 

"We all saw you hold his hand last week," Jess added, wrapping a bandaid on. 

Rory pressed her bleeding finger to the indicator card. "My hands were cold," she explained nonchalantly despite thinking about how his ice-like hands did the opposite of warming hers up. She didn't really mind it. 

"Sure, Rory," Jess said lightly. "Sure."

"Seriously, Jess, nothing is going on between me and Jasper Hale." With her tone and seriousness, Rory almost managed to convince herself of the statement. Almost.


	7. LA PUSH

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to make it clear, Rory came to Forks in the middle of March (like Bella did in the movie) but I made Bella arrive in Forks in February (about the time she did in the books). So rn its about beginning of april.

LUNCH WAS WEIRD for Rory. 

She and Jasper Hale were in a weird place. 

After the bloody biology class, Jess and Rory had entered the cafeteria to find the Cullens already sitting at their designated table. Jasper had lifted his gaze from his untouched tray to look at her as she bought her meal and sat amongst her friends. She tried not to feel so relieved he was present. 

He watched her from the table he sat at surrounded by his siblings just as she watched him. Both were conflicted on what to do. She was sure she wouldn't face as much argument from him now if she decided to sit with him. She could even work on mending her stagnant friendship with Alice. Rory suspected their abrupt fall out had something to do with a moody honey-haired teenager. 

Rory switched her attention back onto her friends who all were excited about something. She was sure they were discussing some trip but Rory honestly zoned out. 

"La Push, baby. You in?" 

"Should I know what that means?" Bella choked out a laugh while setting her backpack down next to Rory. 

"Sounds like a failing Spanish grade to me," Rory tilted her head while the others laughed. 

"La Push beach, down on the Quileute rez." Mike offered an explanation from his perch on the next table with Tyler. "We're all going this weekend. Big swell coming in."

Eric jumped up and posed. "And I don't just surf the internet." Mike jumped on the table he sat on to match Eric's surfer pose before being yanked down by Tyler. 

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Eric, you stood up once. On a foam board."

"I'm from Texas," Rory narrowed her eyes, "No way in hell I'm gonna surf in that ass-freezing water." She was looking forward to a weekend of playing with her new dog and sleeping in, starting with a fat dog-cuddling nap after school. 

"There's whale watching, too," Angela turned to Bella and Rory with a smile. "Come with." 

"I think I'll pass," Rory wrinkled her nose. "Coldwater, surfing, and sitting in the cold...Knowing Forks, it'll probably rain at some point. I think I'll just play with Orion instead." 

"La Push, baby," Eric repeated just as extra as he did before. "La Push." He got up in their faces and Rory snickered at Bella's clear discomfort. 

"I'll go if you stop saying that," Bella finally relented as she chewed a cucumber slice from Angela's tray. Noticing Rory's silence, Bella prodded her, "and Texas killjoy over here is coming too."

"Bella," Rory said warningly. 

"Yeah, Rory, you have to come now!" Jess demanded. 

"No." 

Her friend's brown eyes were alit with mischief. "What? Are you planning on staying home all day and painting a certain blon—"

Rory automatically looked at Jasper Hale, whose normally impassive face was alit with curiosity, and turned towards hers. 

"—I'll go! Fucking hell," Rory muttered with hot cheeks while the table erupted into cheers. Bella smiled and walked towards the salad line where Edward had, of course, joined her. 

The Cullens really were a weird bunch. 

Rory was infinitely glad she had grown close to Bella. While Jess was a really good friend, Bella and Rory understood each other. Bella was the soothing, sensible presence in Rory's erratic and temperamental self. And since both girls were the victims of the confusing messes of Cullen/Hale boys, Rory and Bella relied on each other to stay sane. 

Which was why when Bella admitted to Rory that she had indeed invited Edward to their friend group's upcoming planned trip to La Push beach up on the reservation, Rory scolded her. 

"Bella, you better not be upset if he doesn't show up," Rory raised her eyebrows at the shame-faced brunette. 

Bella groaned and bumped her forehead on the large tan leather wheel of her truck. "I know, I know." She peeked through her curtain of hair at Rory. "Maybe you could invite Jas—"

"No!" 

"Please!" Bella begged anxiously. "You said you guys were working on...whatever you two are. Don't tell me you guys weren't holding hands at the greenhouse field trip!"

"Why does that insignificant detail matter so much to everyone?!" 

"Because it's the first concrete sign of Jaory!" Bella giggled, hiding a smile behind her hand. 

"Ja-what?" 

"You know, like Jasper and Rory. Jaory." Bella smiled. "You guys are like perfect together."

"You're really milking all this just to get me to ask him to come with us to La Push so he'll get Edward to come also." Rory crossed her arms and glanced at Bella, who now looked at her with pursed lips. “And come on—at least go with Jory, or even Rasper.” 

"Rory," Bella said seriously, "This isn't just about La Push, anymore. I don't know why you're so insistent on denying whatever you have with Jasper. We both know you don't really have a long-distance relationship with some boy from Texas. It's just your cover and it might be time for you to let someone in. From what Jess told me about the Cullens, you are the only person other than his siblings that have actually had a real conversation with him. He likes you."

"You're projecting, Bella," Rory chimed lightly as the feeling of insecurity overwhelmed her. Rory sighed. "Edward Cullen and Jasper Hale are just not the type of boys we should chase. I don't know how, why, or what but they are dangerous. Maybe it's time we thought about that." 

"No," the brunette failingly insisted, "you are afraid. You're afraid to accept the fact that you have feelings for him and I'm not going to let you let your happy ending disappear." 

Rory shook her head and opened the passenger door. She stepped out and faced Bella once more. "Happy endings don't exist, Bella. It's why they end for a reason." 

Bella sighed. Rory was too stubborn for her own good. 

In AP US history, the desks were arranged in pairs. According to Mr. Bryce, the arrangement would last until the due date of the project which meant Jasper and Rory would be sitting shoulder to shoulder for the next few weeks. It didn't even make sense because they weren't given any time to work on the presentation in class. 

Jasper had been a bit quiet during the week, but still amicable enough to not outrightly ignore Rory. Which was fine because Rory had her own shit to do and she wasn't going to let a minor infatuation with Jasper Hale stop her from living life. That couldn't be said for Bella though, unfortunately. Rory tried to keep Bella from becoming obsessed with Edward Cullen to no avail. 

"Are we splitting the work or actually meeting up?" Rory asked at end of class on Friday. 

He looked up at her from his curly blond strands. She was standing in front of his desk with a Cheshire cat smile. Jasper couldn't stop the small smile from gracing his lips. 

"As long as you don't mind meeting up," Jasper said. 

Rory flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Tell me when and where and I'll be there—providing I have a ride, of course." 

"The library? After school on Monday?" Jasper offered after some thought. 

Rory smirked, leaning on his desk with one manicured hand. "What? Too scared to come over to invite me to yours? Or come over to my house?" She hoped she didn't sound as suggestive as she thought it did. 

"I wouldn't want to impose upon my family nor yours," Jasper informed her in his ever gentlemanly ways. 

Rory chose not to correct his assumption that her house would be full. Most of the time, she was alone with her mother working as many shifts at the hospital. Jasper didn't know any of that though. 

"And you aren't free to meet up this weekend?" Rory asked curiously. Maybe she would take the opportunity to do what Bella had been begging her to all week. Bella so owed her for this. But before she could extend the invitation, Jasper shook his head. 

"My brothers and I are going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier this weekend." He smiled tightly and Rory tried not to look so disappointed. "Besides, the library has more credible sources about the civil war than my house." Jasper seemed more amused by the end of his response as if he had some sort of inside joke. 

"Okay. Well, Bella's probably waiting for me. I'll see you Monday." Rory smiled brilliantly at Jasper. His matching grin lifted adorably more on one side more than the other, sent her insides fluttering. 

The next morning, Rory found herself waking up early to go to the beach of all places. She was not a morning person and it didn't help her mood when she had spent half the night tossing and turning over never-ending thoughts about Jasper Hale. Rory had a thick blanket pulled over her shoulders (she had no idea where her quilt was, she must've left it in the woods) and she leaned against Tyler's new sedan talking to Angela and Bella, the only two who didn't want to surf. 

"I keep thinking Eric's going to ask me to prom, then he just... don't," Angela said quietly as they watched their friends zip up. 

"You could ask him," Bella offered up an idea. Angela looked down flustered. "Like a second chance at Sadie Hawkins." 

"Take control," Rory chimed in encouragingly. 

Bella nodded with a smile. "You're a strong, independent woman."

"—who don't need no man." Rory snapped her fingers in a z-formation. Bella looked at her unhelpfully and Rory shrugged. Angela didn't seem to hear Rory's addendum and was mulling over Bella's encouragement. 

"I am?"

"Bella!" A male voice called out. 

The entire group from Forks looked up to see three Quileute boys approaching them. Each had long dark hair and beautiful tan skin which comforted Rory because she sometimes felt weird that she and Tyler Crowley were the most colored in town. 

Bella stood and walked up to the guy that knew her. "Guys, this is Jacob." The petite girl hugged the tall Quileute as everyone watched with a modicum of interest. Bella punched Jacob's bicep lightly. "Are you stalking me?"

He looked younger, probably 15 or 16, but he was tall and mature and he, like most boys in Forks, had a thing for Bella Swan. "You're on my Rez, remember? You surfing?" Jacob eyed her comfortable apparel jokingly. 

"Definitely not." Bella snorted and shook her head.

Jess looked from Bella to Jacob with a mischievous grin. "Keep her company. Her date bailed," she teased. Rory stifled a laugh at how fast Bella turned bright red. Her friend was so easily embarrassed and awkward. 

"What date?" Eric piped up almost horrified at the prospect. Tyler and Mike matched asian's expression. 

Jess smirked. "She invited Edward." 

Bella looked at her feet in embarrassment, her cheeks hot. "To be polite. Rory was supposed to invite Jasper..." She glanced at Rory with a betrayed look. 

At this, no one seemed to be surprised. They all saw Jasper and Rory at the greenhouse. Although most of the school thought the tall blond Hale was intimidating and looked pained 98% of the time, they had all noticed he was certainly different, more open and expressive, the 2% of the time he was around Rory Aden. There was just something natural about the pair that were barely friends when they were together. Something balanced. 

They weren't even concerned with Rory's supposed boyfriend from Texas, assuming they had broken up or something. In all honesty, most of her Forks High School friends held their doubts about Rory's supposed boyfriend she never spoke about. It wasn't like Rory ever confirmed anything anyway.

Rory shrugged. "And I didn't because I don't like to suffer from disappointment, Bella." She rolled her eyes and shook her head lightly. 

"I think it's nice she invited him," Angela defended Bella against the wolves. "No one ever does."

Mike turned around with a huff. "Because the Cullens are freaks."

One of Jacob's friend snorted in agreement. "You got that right."

"Don't be salty, Mike." Rory chimed in disapprovingly with a shake of her head. "And they would have come if one, they weren't hiking in the mountains and two, I actually asked Jasper." Rory looked at Bella, trying to convey her sorriness for the situation. 

"I sincerely doubt it," the other guy snorted. "No matter how pretty you might be, the Cullen's know not to dare come here."

Bella wasn't even bothered by their negative comments about the Cullens. She was more curious about the tone Jacob's friend had. As if he knew a lot more reasons about why the Cullens were 'freaks'. "You know them?"

Jacob shot his friend a look, shaking his head, which Bella didn't miss. As everyone began heading out to the water, Bella casually pulled Jacob aside much to Rory's amusement. Rory discreetly spied on them beside Angela. 

She offered the boy an awkwardly flirtatious smile and asked him something. She must've realized the Quileute's weak link was Jacob and she could coax what secrets they knew of the Cullens. Rory slapped her palm to her forehead. 

Meanwhile, Rory had been left alone at the sedan. The others had gone off to surf and Angela, with a sudden burst of confidence, had followed after Eric.

"You're new," an interested voice stated, interrupting Rory's sketch of the rock-lined beach. 

Rory looked up to see one of Jacob's friends staring down at her. She managed a polite smile. 

"Bella's new, too," she commented offhandedly. She eyed him warily. He was tall, dark and handsome—and just as arrogant as any other f-boy. 

He snorted, taking a forward move to sit next to her in the van. Rory scooted away. 

"Please, Bella's the daughter of Chief Swan. She's hardly new, unlike you," he added. "Where are you from, beautiful?" 

Ah. There is it was. Boys always had the same goal to score. 

"San Antonio," she recited emotionlessly. "Who are you again?" Rory raised an eyebrow sharply. 

"I'm your next boyfriend, girlie," he flirted confidently. 

"I already have one," she shot back, standing up at once with the intent to join Bella or Angela on the beach. 

The guy scowled at her rebuff. "Is it that Cullen they were saying you were meant to invite?"

Rory frowned at his sudden aggression. What the hell was up with the Cullens and the Quileutes? Hopefully, by the way Bella was going with Jacob, she would find out for them. 

"No," Rory shook her head. "My boyfriend is from Texas." She couldn't help but remember that Jasper Hale was coincidentally also from Texas. Not that she was talking about Jasper—she was talking about 'Phillip', the fake boyfriend, who remained ever so useful in warding off Washington boys. Obviously. 

"Oh," the guy said, not as angrily as before but still a bit sour. He looked up at Rory with a smirk. "If you ever decide you wanna have some fun, I'll be here. I'm Paul." 

"Pleasure." Rory turned away and almost sprinted for her friends. Guys like Paul grossly reminded her of her real horror-story of a boyfriend from Texas. She shuddered and willed herself not to panic. 

The following Monday at school had surprisingly good weather. For the first time since Rory moved to the rainy town, the sun had decided to come out from the thick cloud bank and even though it was about sixty degrees out, all the Forks kids had broken out the skin. Shorts, dresses, tank tops—Rory horrifically realized this was the warmest it would ever be in Forks. 

She was still bundled up in a sweater and jacket. 

Rory tried not to be so vexed when Jasper didn't show up for class. Neither did any of his siblings, for that matter. 

Well, Rory sighed, looks like their library meet-up was canceled. 

For lunch, Rory sat next to Jess and Bella outside, basking in the sunlight like Jess. The boys tossed a football around and everyone seemed generally happy all due to the good weather. Bella, not having any classes with the Cullens, had no idea they weren't at school for the day as she searched the outside crowd for them. 

"He's not here." Bella and Rory turned their attention sharply on Jess. Her eyes were closed in relaxation but Jess had sat up again with the feel of gossip in the air. "Whenever the weather's nice, the Cullens disappear."

"Why am I not surprised?" Rory rolled her eyes. 

Bella looked around as if Edward was going to pop out of nowhere. "They just... ditch?"

"No, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen yank 'em out for hiking and camping and stuff. I tried the idea out on my parents. Not even close," Jess huffed lightly, jealous of the Cullen's activities in warm weather. 

"Jasper told me last Friday he and his brothers were going hiking," Rory cemented Jess's explanation much to Jess and Bella's interest. "They must've extended the trip." 

"Nothing's going on between me and Jasper Hale," Jess mocked Rory's statement from the previous week with a roll of her eyes. "Puh-lease. But, yeah, Bella. Don't expect to see The Hair anytime soon. At least until the weather is all bleh and gross again."

Bella nodded slowly, registering the odd information just as Angela suddenly jumped on them. 

Her pale face was bright with happiness and elation. "I'm going to the prom with Eric! I just asked him, I took control!"

"Hell yeah!" Rory cheered, high-fiving the girl. 

"Are you sure you have to go out of town? Again?" Angela pouted at Bella. 

"You aren't coming to prom?" Rory's jaw dropped. "Why didn't you tell me? You didn't think to mention that?" She admonished Bella. 

"Sorry, Rory. I thought I did tell you." The brunette looked at everyone apologetically. "It's a family thing." 

"It better be because if this is the last prom I go to, I want to dance with all my friends—regardless if you have two left feet Bella," Rory narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the awkward girl. 

"Oh my God," Jess burst out, "we need to hit the stores in Port Angeles before the dresses get cleaned out."

"I already have a boutique in mind—I passed it when me and my mom drove here," Rory said excitedly. "We can go Friday right after school. Make an evening out of it, get dinner afterward." 

"Yeah, sounds good," Angela agreed with a thoughtful nod. 

At this, Bella straightened up in attention. "Port Angeles?..." she confirmed as the wheels turned in her head. "Can I go with you guys?"

"Duh." Jessica snorted. "We need your opinion." 

"Rory," Bella turned to the dark-haired girl chewing her burrito while Jess and Angela discussed prom ideas. "I gotta talk to you about the research we've been doing." 

Rory swallowed. "Kay. Meet me in the library after school. I was going to go meet with Hale there—"

"—for a lover's rendezvous?" Bella asked mischievously. 

Rory eyed her distastefully. "For our APUSH project. But clearly, he isn't here today so that's not gonna happen." Bella chuckled and shrugged while Rory rolled her eyes. Rory revealed in the fact her innermost feelings of disappointment and dejection about Jasper Hale standing her up were well-hidden. 

"So," Bella whispered in that conspiratorial tone again as they settled into a quiet corner in the library—Forks was so small, its only library was also the schools. "At La Push, Jacob Black told me the Quileute legends...specifically about the Cold Ones."

Rory raised her brow. "I assume the Cullens are supposed to be the Cold Ones." She glanced around them—almost expecting (and half hoping) for Jasper to pop out of the shadows. 

Bella's brows furrowed together. "How'd you know?" 

"Based on the unnecessarily aggressive reaction of the Quileute locals when we brought up Edward and Jasper isn't a very hard link to make based on the fact that the Cullens are at a constant temperature of like 30 degrees," Rory explained superciliously. Rory leaned back on the chair. "Besides, you and I both damn well know there's something unnatural about the Cullens—besides their obvious beauty. They can't all have an affinity for bizarrely colored eye contacts that gradually change with their moods."

"Yeah, I'm really shocked no one else seems to care about that detail," Bella said, zoned off a bit as she fell into another daydream about Edward Cullen. 

"Okay, so what about the Cold Ones?" 

Bella shook herself out of her state. "Well, the thing is—Jacob refused to tell me about that part besides that the Cullens came here to Forks a long time ago. They didn't just move here."

"Your flirting skills must be terrible, Bella," Rory shook her head. "I will have to take it upon myself to remedy that. However, I must acknowledge the strong potential—did you get anything outta that puppy-faced boy?" 

She hesitated before answering. "Jacob mainly talked about how he and his people are descended from wolves of all things..."

"Like werewolves?" Rory's face twisted in disbelief. What next, mermaids and unicorns?

"Kind of. But he said his ancestors and the Cold Ones are supposedly natural enemies," Bella ruminated on the last bit, twisting a strand of hair thoughtfully. 

"Explains all the bitterness," Rory snorted. She folded her hands together expectantly. "So, what next? Are we gonna pester anyone else or check google?" 

"There's a bookstore in Port Angeles with a book that might help us," Bella replied with a sheepish shrug. "That's why I'm really coming along." 

Rory laughed. "I have to admit, I was a bit suspicious when you voluntarily asked to come along with us. I mean, what happened last time..."

"I do hate shopping," Bella agreed with a wince. 

Both girls thought back to the memory of their Seattle expedition not too long ago when the Dressing Room Fiasco occurred. Some people (Rory) walked out of the stores with brand new outfits, while others, (Bella) with scars and tears. 


	8. CLOSER

UNFORTUNATELY, FORKS' BOUT of lovely weather quickly ran out. By Wednesday, it was storming hard and bringing a whole new meaning to 'April showers bring May flowers'. 

Fortunately, that also meant the Cullens were back. 

Rory walked into first period AP Spanish to see the two perfect specimens sitting primly at their desks in the back of the classroom. Rory couldn't stop the grin that grew at the sight of the god-like blond who had met her gaze just as intensely. Time disappeared for a few moments as Jasper Hale and Rory Aden met eyes—gold on hazel brown. 

"Rory!" Alice Cullen beamed at her as she sat down behind Jasper. "Good morning!"

"Hello, Alice," Rory greeted her cordially. She was still a bit miffed by Alice's avoidance the past few weeks. Their friendship really wasn't given any time to grow. Alice smiled sadly at Rory before giving her attention to their teacher who had asked a question. 

"Good morning, Rory," Jasper's smooth honey tone was music to her ears. He had turned in his seat to face her. 

"Jasper. I'm glad you finally decided to show up after standing me up Monday," Rory said sarcastically, her chin propped up in the palm of her hand as her eyes met Jasper's bright golden ones. 

He winced and looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "My apologies, ma'am. I had no way of letting you know that our family trip had been extended due to the good weather." 

His expression was stuck between charming and sheepish. He was adorable. Rory's pursed lips twitched. 

Rory stifled a laugh. "Is that your smooth way of asking for my number?" 

"...yes." Jasper responded hesitantly. He was surprised at his own honesty. He only had a cellphone at his family's insistence...just in case something happened like he went off the bend and attacked someone. Maybe it would be nice to use the phone for once. It might not necessarily be a good thing but it would be nice. 

He watched as Rory rolled her eyes and shook her head. 

Jasper turned back around awkwardly. He had messed that up. It made sense that she would reject the half-question. He mentally berated himself and felt somewhat relieved he had no idea what she was feeling because the outright disgust and rejection would be painful. 

Until a small ripped piece of white paper landed on the corner of his desk. A number was scrawled in elegant penmanship and a small note that read 'I don't like giving second chances, Hale. Considering this is your third or forth, you must really be something'.

Jasper couldn't stop the brilliant smile that grew on his face. He took a glance back at the pretty brunette who had a blank expression on her face. He almost missed her wink.

This time, when the bell rang, Jasper didn't immediately shoot out the door like usual. He waited for Rory to gather her things (and for Alice to go away) and walked by her side to their next class. They both ignored how their fingers brushed each other, not bothering to correct their closeness. 

"How was your weekend, Rory?" He seemed intent on her answer and whatever else she was going to say. 

She quirked one brow slightly at his belated inquiry. "It's Wednesday, my dude." 

Jasper simply sighed. "Humor me." 

"Well on Saturday, I went to La Push Beach on the rez. Quite boring because everyone went surfing or walked along the beach or hit on me," Rory snorted at the last part while Jasper's face stiffened. Her face lit up at her next thought. "I also played with my new dog—Orion—she's the sweetest and I love her," Rory gushed at the thought of the adopted German Shepherd. Rory took one glance at his slightly lost expression as he listened to her intently. 

"You've never had a pet...haven't you?" 

His head tilted, his curls gracefully flopping to one side, as he thought long and hard, "...I had a horse a long time ago," his brow had furrowed slightly as he concentrated on the memory. 

"Back in Texas?" Because Rory can't quite imagine a horse in the damp green soup that made up Forks. 

He nodded with a small lift of his lips. "Yes. It was a family horse though. So I don't know if you'd consider him a pet." 

"Aw. A horse? You must've been a right lil' cowboy growing up then?" Rory could imagine him as an adorable curly-haired blond in cowboy boots and hat. 

"In some sense of the word," Jasper chuckled. 

"You and Rosalie must miss Texas," Rory commented. 

Jasper hid a frown. It was easy to forget of his human alias whenever he was near Rory, even though she was a human. Something about her just made him feel normal. Like he was himself for once; just a regular 164 year old vampire talking to a sweet and beautiful seventeen year old human girl. Er—maybe there was a better way to explain it. 

"It has been a while," Jasper shrugged with a smile full of secrets. He turned the conversation back onto Rory, "You must miss Texas as well?" 

Jasper's golden eyes caught the way her smile froze suddenly and he desperately wished he knew what she was feeling. 

"I miss my childhood, yes," Rory answered instead, plaintively avoiding the actual question. "Forks is a breath of fresh air."

If Jasper could keep his secrets, she could, too. 

"I do appreciate Forks," Jasper replied with a smirk, "Better weather. And better company." He looked down at her pointedly and his chest almost felt as warm as the blush that bloomed on her cheeks. 

"Very smooth, cowboy," Rory hummed as they walked into Calculus. 

Jasper stopped in his footsteps at her nonchalant use of a nickname. Rory turned back at him with a raised brow. He smiled and shook his head as he followed her into the class. 

It was at lunch that the change was evident. Jessica and Rory walked into the boisterous cafeteria and headed to their usual table. As always, Rory found her eyes on the blonde Apollo who sat amongst his siblings with untouched full trays.

"Why don't you just go sit with him?" Jessica insisted as she watched the pair eye each other for the millionth time. 

Rory's expression betrayed no emotion as she rolled her eyes and glanced at the interested few tuning in on the turn in conversation. "Why should I go sit with him? He has legs, he could join me if he wanted too."

"You're so stubborn," Jess huffed. "This is like preschool all over again. You like him. He likes you. Neither will talk to each other." 

Rory's face grew hot. "I don't like him—we're just friends," she insisted despite her heart pounding. 

"Sure, Rory." Everyone collectively didn't agree with the girl's claim. 

"Besides," A slow smile grew on Bella's face who had been looking at the same table Rory was, "I'm pretty sure he likes you." 

Rory sputtered and looked up to see where her friend's gaze was. It was like a scene from a movie or a GQ photoshoot. Half the cafeteria watched as a certain tall blonde adonis gracefully glided straight for Rory's table. 

Jasper Hale stopped beside her. Rory slowly turned her head until their eyes met. 

Without breaking from her eyes, Jasper addressed Rory's friends. "Excuse me, would it be alright if I stole Rory away for a moment?"

Angela blinked. 

Mike, Eric and Tyler all glared. 

Bella fought a small grin. 

Jessica's jaw dropped. 

"Oh my god," Rory muttered as she gathered her things quickly and stood up from her seat, which meant she was standing directly next to Jasper's cool body. "You're a bigger drama queen than Alice. Let's go, Hale."

Rory avoided everyone's stare as she practically ran out of the room with Jasper all too easily following behind, only furthering the whispers and stares. He was in an oddly hyper mood like the crowd's energy transferred to him too. It wasn't a bad thing, just different for the normally aloof guy. 

They made it out of the cafeteria and into the empty halls. Forks high school was so small it needed only one lunch break for the entire student body and staff. Hundreds of eyes followed the pair through the windows from the cafeteria.

It was a good minute until they were alone with only the soft exhales of breathing filling the silence. They finally paused in the hall, shoulders just barely touching but close enough for Rory's warmth to overwhelm Jasper's senses and for Jasper's intoxicating smell and coolness to engulf Rory. 

Jasper let out an uncharacteristic but adorable snicker at Rory's deer-in-headlights look as she processed the unexpected spectacle that unfurled. She darted her eyes to his mischievous expression and paused. She narrowed her gaze at him incredulously. 

His mouth twitched. 

"You totally planned that! You jerk!" Rory exclaimed in realization with a laugh. 

In her fit of giggles, she somehow clumsily stumbled directly into his side, a collision which only resulted in a loud obscene swear as Rory reflexively shook the hand that had fronted most of the blow. 

"Holy fuck, dude, is your arm made out of metal or something because fuck!" 

"Shit." Jasper immediately grabbed the bruised hand with his ice cold one without thinking. "Are you alright?" He tried to regretfully pull back but her uninjured hand stopped him. She placed it back on the swelling skin without a word. 

She was thankful for his skin's strange temperature as it soothed the red hot pain that radiated from her hand. 

"I'm so sorry, Rory," Jasper frowned as he held her hot hand. It suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't even bothered by being alone with her in such close approximation. His throat barely even burned. He looked down to meet her soft brown eyes. 

"Don't apologize, it's my fault." Rory shook her head as Jasper inspected her knuckles which were already swelling. 

"I should've been more careful," Jasper frowned. 

"Bella's supposed to be the clumsy one, not me, but look where we are," Rory snorted, brushing his negative comment off. "I really don't wanna go to the emergency room. My mom would freak again..." She noticed the way he carefully examined her and her heart melted. Jasper's molten gaze intensely met her hazel eyes. 

A moment passed. 

"What do you think I should do?" She wasn't just talking about the potential injury anymore. 

"Well, I don't think it's broken," he murmured, his cool breath spread goosebumps up her arms. Rory tried not to think about how close his lips were to her skin or how nice it was for him to be so gentle with her hand with his. 

"That's good," Rory replied just as softly, not even paying attention to the pain nor the coldness as she stared at his face. 

"You should probably avoid doing that in the future," Jasper said. "For both of our sakes." 

"You should avoid purposely making a scene in front of the entire school," Rory raised a brow. "For both of our sakes."

He lowered her hand from his eyesight but didn't let it go as it bridged them together. She moved her hand and Jasper was slightly anxious until she intertwined their fingers. A smile crept on his features in an ethereal way. 

He raised one brow, "You don't like being the center of attention." It wasn't a question. 

"Not anymore," Rory snorted. She met his eyes again. "Next time you wanna rendezvous, text me before you add fuel to the fire of Forks high schools hot gossip. " She tapped the tip of his perfectly formed nose with a small smile. 

"I'll think about it," he said with a smirk. 

Rory began wandering down the halls, tired of standing in the middle of the hall. "So...how do the sibs feel about you ditching them to hang out with lil ol' me?" She was curious because the Cullens were never apart and Rory was pretty sure Jasper had broken some unspoken rule. 

"Does it really matter?" He asked the girl who didn't even care how cold or unnaturally stone hard his hand was as she pulled him along unnecessarily. Jasper already knew he was helplessly tethered to Rory Aden. 

"Nah. I already know," Rory giggled. 

Jasper grinned. "Do you now?" he asked playfully, gesturing for her to go on. 

Rory nodded. "I doubt you told them your impromptu plan. Your twin kinda hates me, Emmett's probably glad you grew a pair, Eddie is jealous he didn't corner Bella off first, and Alice is excited because she ships us." 

She was pretty much accurate. Jasper didn't really tell his family what he was doing until he was halfway across the cafeteria. He did however feel each of their reactions. Rosalie was of course furious that another brother was consorting with the humans, Emmett was cautious but glad, Edward already knew what Jasper was doing and was more envious of his control, and Alice was excited to witness another future become more solid and clear. 

Jasper smiled. "Ships us?" 

Rory blushed slightly and looked ahead, "Don't worry about it. Anyways," Rory was a master at changing the subject, "is there a real reason for all this?" 

"Is there a real reason for anything?" 

"Don't go all psychological on me, Hale," Rory rolled her eyes. "Because we actually do need to work on the history project."

"We have three weeks left," Jasper pointed out. "No offense, but I thought you would—"

"—Procrastinate?" Rory chuckled, "I am graduating a year early, you know. And I take all AP classes—most of them with you—so I'm exceptionally efficient."

"Oh," Jasper looked a bit embarrassed, "Most teenagers procrastinate."

Rory shrugged because she refused to take the cliched 'I'm not most teens' opportunity that had presented itself. She slipped her phone from the pocket with the hand not intertwined with Jasper's to check to time. "I'd say twenty minutes is plenty of time to get started. Library's always open. And you can't ditch me now."

Jasper looked down at her softly. The corner of his mouth lifted. "Lead the way, ma'am." 

* * *

  
  


Rory's good mood lasted the whole day until she got home. 

Once she had hopped out of Bella's truck and walked through the old doors of her home alone, she was struck with a sudden spell of emptiness. She closed the door mechanically and then dropped to the ground like her facade. 

It was often and expected for the negative feelings to make their appearance in this way; Rory had been dealing with it since before they even moved to Forks. Back in San Antonio, while her mom was busy making funeral plans and suing teenage boys, Rory was left alone in the darkness with her thoughts. 

She had no idea why she was like this. Well, scratch that, she knew why but she didn't want to be a burden anymore. 

She was broken, except she refused to let any of the kings horses and men put herself together again in the form of therapy and medication like they tried to in San Antonio. 

Rory was a bonafide actress. She convinced the countless doctors of her picture perfect mental state and got rid of the medicine and the therapy despite needing it (the insurance only covered so much). So, she was basically almost completely fine. 

Almost. 

Almost is what necessitated the facade she put up 99% of the day. That 1%, as small as it was, made it's cold, unyielding presence known the moment Rory was alone and weak. 

Except, now, she wasn't entirely alone. Orion seemed to sense Rory's sadness and tried to lick the pain away or at least distract Rory.

"C'mon, Ror," she muttered to herself, "you're better than this." Rory numbly petted the soft fur of her dog. 

Despite her intrusive thoughts telling her the opposite, Rory was trying her best to be better. If not for her mental state, then for her mother. Because God knows her mother was stressed enough as it was, working as many hours as possible to provide for them and pay off debts from San Antonio and mourn their tragedies and the last thing Rory's mom needed was to worry about an emotionally unstable teenager. 

**_Buzz buzz_ **

Frowning in confusion, Rory searched her side until her hand found the rectangular shaped box that vibrated, pulled it out and fumbled with the device until the bright screen flooded the dark foyer she sat in. She wiped her eyes and squinted at the notification that appeared. 

**unknown number**

_ Hello, Rory. This is Jasper Hale.  _

Her mouth twitched slightly.

_ Error #401 The customer you are trying to reach is not available. For more information go to AT&T.com _

**Jasper Hale**

_ Is that so?  _

Rory stifled a laugh. She knew it was quite mean, but at least he was playing along. 

_ Error #401 The customer you are trying to reach is not available. For more information go to AT&T.com _

**_Ring_ **

**_Ring_ **

**_Ring_ **

Rory gaped at the screen. Her heart warmed, melting the cold icicles that had been trying to tear her down. Just one text message from Jasper Hale was enough to lift her mood. Rory sighed defeatedly. She was helpless when it came to him. 

**_Jasper Hale is Calling_ **

Well, he was persistent. Rory smiled softly. Shakily, she raised the phone to her ear. 

"Hello?" The familiar deep and honey-like voice of Jasper reached her ears and warmed her insides. 

She couldn't fight the mischievous urge . "Error #40–"

"Rory!" Jasper said exasperatedly. 

"Okay, okay, I'll stop now," Rory giggled, imagining the frustrated furrow of Jasper's brows and the pout of his perfectly wine stained lips. "I'm sorry, Hale, I just couldn't resist."

"Seems like we both have trouble with that," Jasper replied effortlessly. 

"You're especially smooth today, cowboy," Rory's hand fiddled with the fur of Orion to distract her from her anxiety. "Are you on something?" 

"No," he denied. "Just my natural charisma." 

Rory stifled a laugh. This was the same guy who, until she arrived, only spoke to his adopted siblings and his teachers. "I find that hard to believe." 

"You'd be surprised."

"Trust me, I know. You are full of them, Jasper Hale," Rory slowly grinned.


	9. BAD IDEA

AS IT WAS MENTIONED once before, Rory Aden liked to make bad decisions. 

Drugs, drinking, sex—all the pretty 'bad' things teenagers were known to experiment with—Rory was no stranger to. Her old friend group in Texas were just those sort of people. Something about the dark side enticed her, it intrigued her. She wasn't the definition of a danger magnet, but she followed danger willingly. 

Now, when she was warned to stay away from the forest that engulfed Forks because of a few freak animal attacks, Rory was inclined to do exactly as she promised not to. She didn't believe she was in any danger. Especially now that she had Orion to keep her company. 

So with her worn tan leather combat boots and yellow canvas backpack full of art supplies, Rory decided to explore the dense woods behind her new home in search for inspiration as well as ruminate upon the hour long phone call she had with the enigma that was Jasper Hale. 

Her headphones blasted some Arctic Monkey song as she stumbled amongst the uneven ground, Orion running freely around her. She was about a good forty-five minute hike (Rory had the tendency zone out) into the dense woods when she felt the uncanny sense she was being watched. 

Rory froze. 

Then, she detected the faintest sound of a leaf crunching. 

Orion stopped chasing squirrels and began growling at something unseen. 

Slowly and cautiously, Rory slid her hand into her coat where a pocket knife had been tucked into just in case. 

"Are you going to come out or should I just continue exploring and pretend you aren't following me?" She called out, her voice echoing in the trees. Only the sound of the wind and distant wildlife were heard. 

She pulled the pocketknife out and held it defensively in front of her. "I'm not afraid to use my knife." Nothing. Her heart pounded harder. Something was still watching her. She shakily began opening the pocketknife but it was hard to open from a lack of use. 

"You're going to cut yourself." 

At the unexpected cold voice, Rory did just that. The blade swung open, slicing her thumb slightly. 

"Ah, fuck."

As Rory automatically stuck her thumb in her mouth, she was suddenly thrown against the nearest tree by a blur. "What the fu—!" 

Pining her to the wide tree was a creature with ice cold white skin and black eyes that had squeezed shut tight in pain. 

This was a _really_ bad decision. 

Rory's shocked eyes trailed from the familiar features to the honey blond waves that hung in his face. Rory couldn't help but inhale the intoxicating scent of leather and cinnamon that belonged to Jasper Hale. 

She was downright confused. " _Jasper_?" 

He had his hands blocking her between his arms as he panted heavily. Orion barked angrily at him and tried to put herself between Rory and Jasper to no avail. 

"Jasper?" Rory asked again in a smaller voice. 

His head jerked up at a frightening speed. His bone white teeth were bared at her. He looked barely human in that moment, his face twisted in a multitude of emotions—fury, pain, and...something else. 

"Do. Not. Move," Jasper seethed out in a low, husky tone. His pitch black eyes were trained on her bleeding thumb. His left hand caught the wrist of the hand that bled. He stared hard at the descending drop of crimson. 

Her back was sore from being shoved so harshly against the tree and her thumb stung badly. Rory wanted to push him off, but knew it would be no use. She tried not to notice the decimation of the bark beneath Jasper's fist that still blocked her in. 

For a few long seconds, Jasper seemed content with keeping her pinned to the tree. He didn't move a muscle.

"Normally when teenage boys pin me against a hard surface, they're at least doing something with their mouths," Rory mentioned nonchalantly. Then she realized it probably wasn't the right time for innuendos. 

However, it was both the stupidest and smartest thing she did because it snapped Jasper Hale out of whatever weird ass funk he was in. The deadly look in his eyes faded the slightest bit, but it was enough for him to calm down a little. 

Rory acted as though she was having a casual conversation with him about the weather. Like it was any other normal guy pinning her against a mossy tree. He noticed his ironclad grip on her wrist and loosened it, but not enough to completely free her. Instead, he kept her blocked in between his muscular arms.

Jasper's brows furrowed together as he searched Rory's resolute expression. He took in her normal breathing and dilated brown eyes. The pitter-patter of her heart. Strong and consistent. 

"You aren't afraid." 

Rory averted her eyes from his. 

"I've been through worse."

Jasper was thrown off—both emotionally, mentally and physically. Well, he more like jumped away from Rory's warm body. She was free. He grabbed the trunk of the nearest tree to plant himself from succumbing to the very strong urge to take Rory's bleeding crimson thumb in his own mouth and sucking every last drop. 

His predatory instincts were begging to be unleashed to satisfy the beast but something kept his last shred of humanity in tact. 

_ Thump. Thump. Thump.  _

The somehow therapeutic beat of Aurora Aden's heart was like his own personal symphony. 

Jasper wasn't keen on stopping the music that made him feel human. 

"You could've just said hey, you know, like a normal person," Rory drawled, walking past Jasper's wound up body to pick up her discarded backpack. "If my things are broken, you're buying me new ones." 

She crouched and unzipped it to make sure her materials were unharmed by Jasper's abrupt semi-attack. Orion had moved to her side and licked Rory's arm while still growling at Jasper. 

Rory glanced back to the handsome blond's pained expression where his eyes were glued to her bleeding thumb. She had to go back and forth a few times to understand what was making him so uncomfortable and unhinged. Nothing made sense but Rory's instincts were automatic. 

Jasper's dark gaze zeroed in on her hand as she stuck her thumb back in her mouth to clean away the excess blood while her other hand dug into her backpack. A moment later, she retrieved a bandaid and promptly bandaged up her bleeding thumb. She looked up at Jasper, whose pained expression had visibly lessened, while his body remained taut. She stood to her full height, which was still considerably less than his, but she regained her confidence as she walked closer to him. 

"How are you not paralyzed with fear right now?" His voice was tight and controlled. He looked down at her like she was an unsolvable puzzle. He was disgusted at himself. 

Rory stepped closer to him. One corner of her lips curved upwards as she tucked a honey wave behind his ice-like ear like it was natural for her. She met his gaze firmly. "If you wanted to hurt me, you wouldn't have saved me from being squished like a bug by Tyler's van." 

"I already have," Jasper cautiously reached his hand around her to trace along her lower back where her spine met her tailbone, soothing the soreness from when he blocked her into the tree. His hand promptly stopped before it got to where she wanted. 

His freezing touch made her shiver, but not from the cold. 

"I'm tougher than you think," Rory smirked and stepped away, unbothered from their close proximity. "Should I bother asking for an explanation with what just happened...?"

The dark, tortured look on his face made her laugh half-heartedly. "Of course, not." 

"It's—I can't—" Jasper stammered, his body still frozen like a statue, one hand braced on the tree to keep him from doing something he'd regret. 

"Shush now," Rory sighed. "I spent way too long these past few weeks trying to find some answers. I came out here to have a good time, and I was honestly just attacked just now—by you—so I'd appreciate if you didn't try to spout some half-assed lie, Hale." 

He looked at her blankly. 

"Oh, come on now," Rory rolled her eyes, "I've basically forgiven you for almost ruining my afternoon." And probably ending her life. "The least you could do is not look at me like I murdered your pet cat or something."

"I...apologize greatly. I regret this more than you could ever know," Jasper began, resembling the oddly gentlemanlike and formal asshole she knows more than the cold, killing machine beast from a few minutes ago. 

"Yeah, yeah," Rory brushed it off. She abruptly sat crisscrossed on the damp dirt and laid her travel watercolors and sketchbook around her. Orion sat next to her loyally. 

Jasper eyed her curiously, but made no move to get closer, not quite trusting his control entirely. "What...are you doing?"

"Well if you're not holding back your weirdness anymore, why should I?" Rory answered with a shrug. She heard an exasperated groan come from the blond who had braced himself against the tree with his hands dug into the bark to keep him in place. 

"You're insane."

Rory looked up at him with a raised brow. "Don't move too much or my painting will be ruined. And if my painting is ruined, you will regret it," she now threatened him as she began sketching out his beautiful profile. 

Jasper let out a bark of hateful laughter. "I almost just killed you, but now you are threatening me."

"Well, I'm trying not to think to much on that last bit," Rory said looking up at him with a sigh. "You should really answer some of my questions."

"You should really be running away in fear," Jasper growled back. His expression was still twisted in pain. 

"There'd be no point in that," Rory snorted, "You'd only just catch me."

His self-hating smirk answered that unsaid question. 

"So," Rory raised one eyebrow, "What exactly are you? Me and Bella have our theories, but I don't think radioactive spiders did that to you." She gestured to his barely contained grip on the tree that was slowly being cut in half by Jasper's might. 

"I'm no superhero, Rory," Jasper choked out. "If you were smart—"

"I am smart," Rory glared. "And I'm not staying away from you now. You need help." 

"I need—I almost killed you and you don't even care!" 

"But you didn't," Rory pointed out with finger guns. "That's what makes you redeemable, my friend."

"You are nothing like—"

"—other girls?" Rory's face scrunched up in annoyance. "What's wrong with other girls? I hate that line. Most girls are fantastic people and I didn't think you would be so misogynistic It makes me like you a little bit less—"

"—other humans," Jasper trailed off. A peculiar look hit his face as her spiel registered with him, his eyes filling with curiosity. "You like me?" 

Her accidental confession seemed to melt his cold exterior. He stepped away from the tree and glided towards her. 

Rory froze. Oh shit. That's one way to profess her feelings for the blonde. 

She met his dark gaze that had softened as he sat in front of her, no longer bearing to be so far from her. He didn't care how the damp ground and dirt seeped into his designer jeans. Rory was all he could see, all that mattered to him in that moment. 

An awkward silence filled the air. 

"Why did you say 'other humans' like you're not one yourself?" Rory questioned, changing the subject as she laid her sketchbook down on her lap and looked up at the blond god-like being inquisitively. 

"They're going to be furious," Jasper muttered under his breath. He crossed his muscular arms, "I have no choice but to tell you the truth."

"I've been trying to get you to this entire time!"

His pointed look shut her up.

"As I was saying," Jasper said, his voice becoming tense once more, "the truth is that my family and I—we're different."

"Yeah, not many small town families are comprised with several aloof and adopted teens not related to another but all sharing the same bizarrely beautiful features," Rory interrupted with a roll of her eyes. 

"We are different," Jasper continued after glaring at Rory, "because we are not human."

Rory tried to stifle her snort. Jasper, for all his good looks and grace, definitely did not do this often. It sounded so cheesy, but at least he was trying. Poor Bella had been struggling with Edward for a few weeks longer than Rory had with Jasper. She offered him an encouraging look. 

Jasper closed his eyes as the next words flowed from his mouth. 

"My family and I are vampires."


	10. THE WHOLE TRUTH

JASPER HALE HAD PREPARED himself for the worst reaction from the beautiful human that drove him crazy when he revealed his secret to her. He expected tears, shouting, even her running away in terror but Jasper did not expect for a burst of uncontrollable laughter to resound. 

He opened his eyes. Rory was dying of laughter, covering her mouth and wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she cackled before attempting to calm herself by taking in a gulp of air, "but vampires? Come on, Jasper, this is just the perfect joke—seriously never expected this from you." She waited for him to join in on her laughter and reveal it was all a big joke and Ashton Kutcher was about to pop out from behind a tree with a camera crew. 

When nothing like that sort occurred, Rory's laughter faded into awkward silence. She looked up at Jasper had a stricken expression. _Oh, he was serious._

"Wait," she stood up to face him, "you aren't joking..." She noticed he took a cautionary step back then became a flawless statue again. A master work of art. 

"No."

She looked at him closely, taking in his dark eyes, pale skin, ethereal beauty, and all his inhuman perfections as he watched her carefully like a predator watching it's prey. 

"That...explains a lot actually," Rory said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "You're impossibly fast and strong enough to stop a van from crushing me across the lot. Your eyes change color from black to gold, I thought it was due to your mood but I guess I'm not entirely wrong if they happen to change due to your hunger level—I get hangry on the occasion also." Jasper arched a perfect eyebrow at that in begrudging amusement as Rory continued to ramble. "You're pale-white and ice-cold. I bet if Bella and I went to that Port Angeles bookstore, then we would've figured it out ourselves..."

"What's in Port Angeles?" 

"Just like a book on legends that Bella bet would reveal what you and your family are according to the natives," Rory explained with a wave of her hand. "And prom dresses. We were going to shop for prom." Rory had no idea why she brought up the prom thing. She inwardly cringed. "Anyways..."

"You do know...vampires drink _blood_ to survive," Jasper reminded her sardonically, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Are you going to eat me now?" She batted her eyelashes sarcastically because both knew he wouldn't. 

He did glower at her though. "No, I am _not_ going to _eat_ you. My family and I abstain from drinking from humans. We are... _vegetarians_ in an ironic sense. We hunt animals, not humans," he chuckled before the serious expression took place again. "But that doesn't mean I won't. Or haven't before." 

Rory patted his stone-like muscular chest, "I think you can control yourself."

"You are taking this far too well," Jasper said darkly. 

"I kind of expected something like this...vampires? Not exactly, but I've been suspicious for a while. You're not exactly normal," Rory admitted with raise of her shoulders. "And," she stepped closer to him daringly, "I'm sort of too infatuated with you to run away now." She looked down at the ground sheepishly. 

She didn't expect for a cold finger to lightly lift her chin up, until her brown eyes met his dark golden one. 

"I'm too dangerous for you." He looked regretful of their circumstances. 

"I like danger," she said simply. 

"I'm only going to hurt you," Jasper looked away angrily. "I'm a monster." He looked away from her, ashamed of himself. It broke Rory's heart. 

Rory slowly reached up, to press her palm on his freezing sculpted cheek. She leaned in closer, forcing his obsidian eyes on hers. "It's a good thing I've never been afraid of the dark then."

He shook his head, but Rory succeeded in drawing a twitch of a smile from him. 

"You're going to be the death of me," Jasper inhaled deeply, his eyes darkening as her scent overwhelmed his senses. But he didn't make any move to attack, his control over his thirst strengthened the more he got used to being so close to her. He looked pained, but somewhat proud of himself.

"Ooh, irony. I like that," Rory nodded appraisingly, not giving a damn that the blonde vampire had pressed his aquiline nose against her pulse point. 

He frowned at her. 

"Now, enough talking," Rory said, turning around and taking her seat again on the mossy ground. She lifted her sketchbook up into her lap as Orion circled around her crisscrossed figure before finally settling, her big brown eyes suspiciously trained on Jasper. 

"You don't have anymore questions?" Jasper's brows furrowed together. "Bella is relentless with Edward." Jasper watched as the brunette carefully laid out a mini-watercolor set beside her and pulled out a damp round brush. 

"I'm not Bella." The corner of her mouth lifted. "You can tell me about yourself when you feel comfortable sharing. I won't force you. No offense, but my sole focus hasn't been obsessed with figuring you out." She shook her head, thinking of her friend. Bella would absolutely freak if she knew Rory knew the mystery behind the Cullens. 

"I thought you and Bella were friends," he was utterly confused. He stood perfectly still as Rory began to outline his likeness. 

"Yeah, she's like my bestie. That doesn't mean I don't think she's crazy for being so obsessed with your brother," Rory explained while painting a few strokes. She narrowed her eyes at Jasper's profile and mixed her watercolors a bit more. 

"To be fair, Edward is just as obsessed with her even though he tries to stay away," Jasper admitted, effortlessly remaining perfectly still. She seemed happy to be painting him and Jasper very much enjoyed keeping that elusive smile on her face. 

"Does he want to kill her?" Rory asked both curiously and worriedly, ending her stance to not ask any more questions. She needed to make sure Bella wasn't in any danger. 

"Well. It's more complicated than a simple yes or no answer. Edward's natural instinct towards Bella is different than his true feelings for her," Jasper explained. "Her blood is especially appetizing for him. It's worse for him with Bella than it is for me with you." He noticed Rory's concerned look and paused before adding, "Don't worry, darling, Bella won't be harmed." 

"How do you know that?" 

He looked a bit uncomfortable at this. "My family and I make sure he won't lose control. I make sure to keep his emotions stable and calm."

Rory nodded understandingly then stopped. She peered at the blond vampire curiously. "Keep his emotions stable?" 

"I have had to manipulate his emotions a couple of times to keep him from losing control." Jasper sighed at her pointed look that conveyed he needed to explain himself more thoroughly. "Some vampires have special...abilities. I have pathokinesis, which is—"

"—you can control emotions, obviously."

His mouth lifted at her cognizant answer. "Yes. I can sense and change the emotions of the those around me."

Rory's jaw dropped. "Even mine?!" That meant he probably knew how she felt about him since the very beginning! Yikes. How embarrassing. 

At this, his growing smile dropped. "Well, that’s where it gets complicated.” Rory raised her brows. “You are the only exception. You feel so much and hide it all at the same time, I can’t read you properly. Which is why it is so dangerous for me to be with you like this. I pride myself on my control but I usually rely on my ability to keep me in check. I can't control exactly what you are feeling—you have to tell me what you are feeling, Rory. Whether you feel scared or intimidated or if you want me to go away. So I can keep you safe." His voice had lowered and softened. This immortal being of immense strength and solitude was rendered vulnerable in her presence. 

"Right now?" 

"Please." His soft plead was all it took for Rory to realize. 

Jasper Hale was all she ever wanted. 

Rory stood to her feet, her art supplies discarded beside Orion who watched the human and vampire cautiously. 

Rory closed the distance between them. 

"It's just that," Rory looked up into his black eyes that searched hers, "for someone who manipulates the emotions of everyone around you, you don't seem to truly experience any of them yourself." She placed a hand over where his heart should have been beating. "I intend to remedy that." 

His honey-smooth voice didn't hesitate. "I can't stay away from you." Jasper's eyes fluttered close as his hand covered hers as light as a feather. Rory couldn't help but compare him to an avenging angel of statues and paintings.

"Then don't." She shrugged. He couldn't stop his grin from lifting upwards at her familiar movement. 

He exhaled hard. "You should stay away from me."

She twisted her hand that rested over his chest and intertwined it with his ice-cold hand. "Too late, Jasper Hale. I'm here."

_I'm yours_.

* * *

It was long past twilight when Rory finally got home. Jasper had insisted on walking her to the door even though Rory told him it was fine if he wanted to go back to his family once the trees thinned out enough for them to see her red house. But as the pair walked up the porch with Orion cautiously bounding along behind (she was still cautious of the pale creature who almost hurt her Human) Rory was sure Jasper was wrong. As much as Jasper claimed vampires were monsters, he was truly a gentleman through and through. It was heartwarming. 

Rory spotted her mother's car in the driveway and raised her brow. It was quite early for Stella to be home from the hospital. She glanced at Jasper furtively. Rory considered him to be her man, who wasn't her man, but was her man so she wasn't sure if their unlabeled relationship constituted meeting each others parents. Rory humored the thought of meeting her vampire boyfriend's (who wasn't her boyfriend) family and seeing the elusive Cullen Mansion. She wondered if there was a moat and dungeon for the aesthetic. 

Jasper didn't protest when Rory's hand tightened around his as she unlocked the front door with the other hand. "My mother's home." She looked up at him with wide unsure eyes. "Do you...would you want to meet her?" She felt horribly awkward. 

"I'd be honored, ma'am." Jasper broke out into a beaming grin and Rory felt like she was looking at the sun, pausing in awe to stare at him. 

"Careful, darling, you're drooling," he teased, brushing the underneath of her chin while she snapped up in embarrassment. 

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, "You're so annoying," she muttered meaninglessly as she swung open the door, Orion already slipping through, eager to get to her dinner. 

"Mija—oh." 

Stella had already been making her way into the foyer to greet her daughter once she heard the locks turning from the living room, only to for the door to reveal Rory hand in hand with a strange, beautiful model. 

"Hola, mama," Rory grinned but didn't make a move to kiss Stella's cheeks as usual, anxious to make sure Jasper didn't feel as nervous as she did. 

The older woman raised her brow at the man by her daughter's side. He didn't look like any of the teenagers around Forks though he looked vaguely familiar. 

Jasper smiled charmingly at the sight of the similar expression on Rory's mother's face. They were practically twins. Jasper gracefully extended his hand towards Stella Aden, knowing she wouldn't question his freak temperature due to the coldness outside. 

Stella smiled warmly and shook his hand firmly, slightly jumping at the coldness but not taking it too seriously, which Jasper insured by altering her mood the tiniest bit. He didn't let his grasp linger to long as he smoothly retracted his palm and shoved it in the pocket of his useless jacket. 

"Good evening , ma'am, my name is Jasper Hale," he turned the charm on as high as possible, "I'm Rory's..." He glanced down to the brunette at his side. 

"—friend. And history project partner," Rory explained to her mother, avoiding Jasper's amused expression. 

"Oh," Stella raised a brow, looking a little less than convinced but not about to prod more than necessary. "Nice to meet you, Jasper. And please, call me Stella." 

Rory exhaled a silent breath of relief. She allowed him to call her Stella, which was good. Rory's ex-boyfriend had still been stuck on Mrs. Aden when they were together for over a year. 

"It's a pleasure, Stella. Rory's told me so much about you, all good and true," Jasper chuckled harmoniously. "I'm looking forward to hearing from you of stories about Rory." 

Stella regarded Jasper with an approving grin. "Are you going to stay for dinner, Jasper? I know how teenager boys eat, I'll order an extra pizza then—"

Jasper grinned charmingly while Rory turned red, morbidly thinking of the fact that Stella did not know what this teenage boy in particular truly ate. Well, drank. "No, mama. Jasper was just leaving. He just walked me to the door." Rory pressed a hand to the middle of Jaspers toned back. 

"So soon?" Stella was a bit crestfallen. This was the first 'friend' she had met of Rory's besides Bella Swan. And her daughter's friend was entirely too handsome to not offer a dinner invitation. "Are you sure you can't stay?" 

Jasper could tell Rory was uncomfortable. Hopefully it wasn't because she didn't want him in her home any longer. Rory glanced at Jasper with her eyes filled with concern. He had stiffened and she hoped it wasn't because her mother's nonchalant dinner invitation made him uncomfortable. 

Jasper stepped further into the house, carefully tugging Rory along with him. "If it's alright with you and Rory, of course, I would love to stay for dinner, ma'am." Rory blinked up at him in confusion. She really thought he wouldn't have wanted to stay. 

His thumb rubbed the back of her hand soothingly. He couldn't feel her emotions but he knew her well enough to tell she was very anxious. 

A half hour later, a steaming pizza had been delivered and the Aden women had dug in. Jasper politely had a single piece of the cheese pizza on his plate as he sat beside Rory and across from her mother. He had nibbled on it politely to keep Stella far from suspicion despite Rory's adorably astonished stares. 

Jasper looked around the interior of the foyer, taking note of the warm coloring of the walls and the pictures hanging on the wall leading up the stairs. Original paintings and artwork touched almost every aspect of the home—all clearly done by Rory by the tiny initials he zeroed in on each piece. 

"It's amazing how you and Rory have only lived here a few weeks and managed to make your home so welcoming and warm. It's truly lovely," Jasper said. He hoped he didn't sound like he was trying too hard. Because he was. Because it was Rory's mother. 

Stella smiled. "We try our best. I must admit I wish I had more to do with it," she looked almost sad as she glanced at her daughter, "But with all my hours at the hospital, I'm afraid I haven't done so much." 

Jasper nodded in understanding. "Ah, I remember my father mentioned he worked with you a few weeks ago when you two moved here." 

"Your father?" Stella's hazel eyes widened with realization. "You must be Dr. Cullen's son." She suddenly remembered why he was familiar. Rory recognized the look in her mother's eyes, akin to the look one would have whilst solving a puzzle. 

"Jasper also has other adopted siblings," Rory added, trying to get her mother away from breaching the topic surrounded with suspicious circumstances that hinted at Jasper's impossible capabilities. 

Her eyes flickered from Rory to Jasper with recognition. "You were the one who miraculously saved Rory from being crushed to death by that reckless van a few weeks ago..." Stella was in awe as she put the pieces together. 

"Yes, I did." Jasper glanced at Rory as if to make sure she was unharmed. "It was nothing." 

"Nothing?" Stella raised a brow. "My daughter's life is indebted to you, Jasper. That is not something I take lightly." 

Rory sighed, "Mama—" 

Feeling Stella's rising emotions, Jasper calmed the woman. "I only meant the act was nothing because there is nothing I wouldn't do to ensure Rory's safety," he emphasized his words with a nonchalant placement of his hand on Rory's on top of the oak dinner table. 

Rory cast her gaze to Jasper with upturned lips. They shared a secretive smile that didn't go unnoticed. She took note of the flush on her daughter's cheek as Rory leaned in closer and the way the boy mirrored Rory's every move like they were in synch, like they were soulmates. Stella had witnessed how Rory was in constant contact of Jasper, whether her daughter held his hand, pressed to his side or met his enamored gaze with her own. Stella had witnessed how Jasper's eyes were constantly trained on Rory, his clear protectiveness, how he spoke to her with utmost respect and carefully regarded her with adoration. How very much clear it was the two were meant to be. 

Stella liked this boy very well indeed.


	11. INTERROGATION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning; some dark, triggering events occur at the end of the chapter (the port angeles assault scene)

"YOU LOOK OVERWHELMED."

Rory let out a small gasp from her bed to find the unexpected vampire visitor standing in front of her open window. It was nearing midnight, the silvery beams flatteringly highlighted his high cheekbones as he observed her with a raised brow, his wavy honey hair lightly ruffling with the night breeze. 

Jasper Hale, a vampire, was in her bedroom. 

She blinked, glanced at the laptop screen which definitely did not display a mythological website all about vampires, reached out and slammed the screen close, fluidly shoving it under the bedcovers before smiling at Jasper as if she had not just suspiciously put her laptop away the moment she realized he had snuck in.

"Not that I want you to leave," Rory said slowly, "but if you wanted to come over, you could've, I don't know, texted me? Instead of scaring the shit out of me...I mean look at me," she broadly gestured to her pajamas and bare face, "I would have changed if I knew you were coming..." 

She felt horribly awkward once more even though she knew deep down she had no reason to be. She fiddled with the loose thread of her baggy sweater she wore that was so big on her it hid her plain cotton shorts. She was basically only wearing an oversized sweater, essentially half-naked, in front of Jasper Hale. 

Jasper nodded apologetically. "I didn't mean to cause you any discomfort. I—I'll go—" He turned to grasp the window sill once more, preparing to jump out to hide his mortification at thoughtlessly invading into Rory's room without invitation. He wasn't Edward (who was currently doing so in the white house next door.) At least Jasper wasn't watching her sleep. 

"No—" Rory was surprised at how fast she dismissed his attempt to exit. Her hand had reached out and grasped Jasper's sleeve instinctively. "I mean, you can stay. If you want. I'd...like it if you did. Just next time...give me a warning." 

Jasper's stiff disposition softened immensely. He nodded once as he stared down at her as if she was an angel. Her hand on his sleeve slid down to his hand, intertwining their fingers together until he was fully in the room. Rory sat back on the bed while Jasper stood before her, looking as though he had something important to talk about. 

He decided he preferred her bare and natural face—not that he hated makeup. It simply wasn't his business and he appreciated the artistry of Rory's skills anyways. She didn't need it but she clearly liked makeup and Jasper liked everything that was Rory. Her bare face revealed the fawn colored constellations that dotted her cheeks and nose. Even the red and faded acne scars endeared him, though he knew many others wouldn't agree. 

He could stare at her all day. Jasper blinked out of his thoughts as Rory asked him a question.

"Is everything okay?" Her eyes held concern as her mind frantically darted to countless scenarios where something had gone wrong for Jasper. What if he was sick from eating the very human pizza? Or his family was angry at him? Or he had...lost control?

Jasper shook his head lightly, "I was running home—"

"—running? Why?" She didn't know why she was surprised, he did find her in the middle of the woods...Clearly he hadn't ubered there. But the verbal fact still struck odd to her. 

He looked amused, "Yes. I'm a vampire, Rory, not a magician. I don't just magically appear out of nowhere." 

"Well, I'm a human. And I actually was thinking less running and more like flying. Like a bat," Rory snickered at the playfully offended expression on the blond's face. 

"We don't fly." He rolled his eyes. "And back to the point, I was on my way home," he looked at her pointedly, knowing she was about to input another joke, "when I remembered I forgot something." 

"And what is this request, fearsome vampire," Rory asked airily, half-jokingly.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone, not even Bella, the truth about me and my family," Jasper said seriously. "No one can know what we truly are."

Rory scrunched her features. "You thought I was going to tell?" A wave of hurt passed through her. He didn't trust her? She didn't let it show, merely raising a brow at him. 

"Most humans prefer to tell their closest paramours the secrets they know," he pointed out logically. "Bella is your closest friend who happens to be interested in my brother who also happens to be a vampire."

"It's not like anyone would believe me if I said 'hey, everyone, you all know the intimidating and inhumanely beautiful Cullen family? Turns out they're vampires—yeah, the creatures of the night who feast on blood'," Rory imitated with a roll of her eyes. 

Jasper sighed, "Please, Rory." 

"Hitler promised not to invade Czechoslovakia and look what happened," Rory replied, challenging the vampire with a playful grin.

"I know, I was there." One side of his mouth lifted in that secretive smile of his. 

"Wait, no way..." Her eyes widened, "I knew you couldn't possibly have been from this decade but even the 1940's?"

Jasper shrugged. "I'm afraid I've been alive—or undead—for a lot longer than that." 

She gaped at the blond Adonis before her, holding her hand. "Oh Jesus. _Please_ tell me you're not as old as Jesus."

"Maybe," he replied smugly, his topaz eyes alit with fire. 

"What?" Rory gasped. "Tell me!" She whispered excitedly. 

He arched an eyebrow, "Well, since you asked so nicely...no." 

She pouted. "Come on, Jasper. I won't run away in terror." 

"I'll tell you if you promise not to tell Bella," Jasper offered with a belligerent grin. 

All traces of humor faded from her voice, "I wasn't going to tell her or anyone else anyways. It sort of hurt that you thought I would. You can trust me, Jasper." Her hand rested over where his unbeating heart laid. 

He frowned apologetically. "I know and I'm sorry." He stroked the curve of her tanned cheek. "I do trust you. My family on the other hand..."

Rory felt mortified. "Does your family...not like me?" Her anxiety levels soared. 

His brow furrowed. "Well—" 

_Oh no._ He had hesitated. "I haven't even met your parents and they hate me," Rory bit her lip. "This is bad."

Some more sensible part of her questioned her topic of concerns considering she should be more concerned over the fact that the Cullens were vampires. 

"No one _hates_ you," Jasper appeased her gently, lifting her chin up with his index finger until their eyes met. 

"What about Rosalie?" Her eyes narrowed. 

"That's just how Rose is," he sighed, "My family, they're just cautious. You and Bella concern them because you're both only human and neither Edward nor I can stay away which makes it a precarious situation." His thumb rubbed calming circles on the base of her jaw where his hand cupped her cheek. 

"So they're nervous about our reactions?" Rory reassessed the situation. Jasper nodded. "Okay, so if I met them, they wouldn't be so cautious of u—me. Of me." 

"You want to meet my family?" 

Rory shrugged. "Why not? It's only beneficial. I meet them as vampires and they meet me, the human. And I've met all your siblings and your father. It's just your mother I've yet to meet. And she's the one I really need to impress." 

Jasper smiled at her endearingly. "You don't have to impress my vampire mother."

"I want to. It's...important to me." She didn't delve into her own reasons, leaving the heavy topic for another day. 

"Okay."

"Okay."

They smiled at each other a moment longer. Both of their gazes briefly flickered to each others lips but made no move. They simply relished in each other's calming presence. 

Jasper suddenly looked away to the open window as if intently listening to something Rory couldn't hear. He let out a sigh a moment longer before meeting her curious stare. "I must leave you to go explain to my family how a dangerously beautiful seductress managed to get me to reveal our darkest secret." 

Rory blushed furiously as she followed Jasper to the window. "You're ridiculous, Hale." 

"Me? Well please feel free to continue browsing the unreliable internet for vampire mythology." He winked at her knowingly. 

"I'm a thorough researcher!" she whispered defensively, keenly aware of her mother's room just down the hall. 

"I know you are darling," Jasper smirked as he half-way hung out the window. He glanced back at Rory with an arched eyebrow, "By the way, I'm picking you up tomorrow morning." 

Before Rory could sputter a response, Jasper disappeared in the blink of an eye. Rory still had her suspicions of his running capabilities. 

The next morning, Rory rolled out of bed with a smile on her face. Okay, she actually didn't because she hit snooze about five times before begrudgingly getting out of bed, but she did speed through her morning routine which counts enough. She fed Orion and herself before grabbing all her things to wait near the front door. Her mother had already left an hour before Rory so all Rory had to do was impatiently wait for her ride to arrive. 

_ Knock knock _

Rory _tried_ not to run, emphasis on tried, to open the door. Her backpack was slung over one shoulder and she smiled as she swung open the door happily to see a face that did not belong to Jasper Hale. 

"Uh, good morning?" Bella Swan raised her eyebrows at the sight of the very flustered and already ready Rory. Typically Rory was never ready by the time Bella came over. 

"Morning, Bella," Rory smiled with flushed cheeks. She wore a pair of ripped jeans over a black v-neck bodysuit and black Fenty Pumas. Her sherpa denim jacket tied the whole outfit together. 

"So is there a reason why you're all dressed up and on time today? Usually you sleep in until I come over and then you spend ten minutes getting ready while I have a nice cup of coffee," Bella said suspiciously eyeing the oddly energetic brunette. 

"Oh, crap, Bella," Rory flattened her palm over her face, "I meant to tell you that—" 

"—I'll be taking Rory to school today, Bella, if you don't mind that is." Jasper Hale smoothly appeared out of thin air. 

The brunette raised an eyebrow amusingly, taking in Rory's unusually flushed face and Jasper Hale's subtle smirk. Bella hid a smile as she nodded understandably. "Okay. I'll...see you later, Rors." Bella awkwardly turned back around and almost tripped over the sidewalk as she walked to her truck. 

Rory shyly looked back up at Jasper once Bella revved the engine of the truck up and pulled away. He was wearing black jeans and a grey shirt paired with a nicely-fitted leather jacket—all designer of course. His honey-blond waves were effortlessly perfectly tousled and his eyes were a warm molten gold once more. Jasper rose one cool eyebrow and offered his arm to Rory. 

"Shall we?" 

Rory reached out and grabbed Jasper's cold hand. She smiled wirily at him. "We'll be at the top of the gossip-mill now, Hale."

Rory had never seen Jasper drive any vehicle, he had been a constant passenger in either Edward's silver Volvo or Rosalie's red Mercedes convertible—the Cullen's seemed to only drive ostentatious cars. So when Jasper walked over to a silver Ducati with a smirk, Rory was impressed but not surprised (except for the fact that she had somehow completely missed Jasper arriving in it for some reason). 

"Don't tell me you're scared of riding a motorcycle?" Jasper grinned as they stood beside the bike. 

Rory narrowed her eyes and shook her head. She tightened the straps of her backpack. "No. I'm just thinking about how flashy you are with the newest Ducati on the market when you're supposed to be inconspicuous." She watched as he straddled the seat, he handed her a helmet. 

"Where's yours?" Rory asked suspiciously before strapping it on. 

"Trust me, I don't need it." Jasper chuckled as she narrowed her eyes and swung her legs across to the other side before slowly wrapping her hands around Jasper's hard torso. He secured her hands, maneuvering them until her fingers were firmly intertwined together with no chance of her slipping off, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of her hand before he grabbed the handles, revving the engine. "Hold on tight, sleeping beauty." 

"I resent that, you know," she muttered as he took off, missing his exuberant laugh as the immense speed deafened her ears. 

When a flashy never-been-seen before silver Ducati arrived at Fork High School's parking lot in a cacophony of noise and attention. Every person in the lot took a long look at the two passengers, Jasper Hale at the handles while a helmeted female was wrapped around him. Bella stood with Angela and the others, knowingly watching the spectacle. The Ducati parked in the empty space next to Edward's silver Volvo where him and his siblings watched the two with interest. 

Jessica gasped. "Is that—"

"Yup." 

As she swung off the motorcycle to allow Jasper to get off, Rory was unnerved yet used to the amount of eyes on her. Everyone seemed to be shocked that one of the Cullen's appeared to be with someone and driving another gaudy vehicle as well. Those who didn't care for the Cullen's but cared for cars, ogled the flawless motorcycle with heart eyes. 

Jasper stood next to her, reaching out to help unstrap the helmet she had been having difficulty with before she took it off to reveal her uncomfortable expression. Her eyes darted around them, catching the stares of every student, including his siblings who stood next to them except for the Ducati between them. 

"Are you alright?" he asked in a way that wasn't referring to the motorcycle ride, but the amount of stares that caused her anxiety levels to rise. He had grabbed her hand and was already rubbing circles with his thumb. 

"I'm good," she said after a moment. She eyed him, noting something was missing, "Where's your backpack?" 

He grinned and turned around to face his family, fluidly catching the plain black backpack that was shot at him by Emmett, who winked at Rory when she glanced at him. 

However she noticed the four all looked at her even more cautiously while Rosalie also glared (which wasn't unusual). So Jasper had told them. She didn't let her grin falter, simply tightened her grasp on Jasper's hand. 

Jasper stared at them a bit before they all visibly relaxed. He clearly used his abilities on them by the roll of Edward's eyes. 

"Good morning," Rory smiled at them. Kindness was key in making one's vampire not-boyfriend's family like them. 

They all mirrored her expression and greeted her atypically. Alice prattled on about a future shopping trip while the other four talked about something in low tones Rory couldn't discern. 

"Rosalie," Rory took the leap, pushing away the rush of anxiety she felt when the blonde flashed her sharp eyes on her. "Would you join Alice and I? I'm afraid if I'm left all alone with her," Rory didn't notice the vampires all share a wary look, "Alice will make me into her barbie doll. I need someone to help reign her down." They all relaxed at hearing the rest of her reasoning, having thought Rory meant she hadn't wanted to be alone with a vampire. 

"If I have no choice," Rosalie responded flatly, which Rory took with a grin. 

"Great, well I'm going to Port Angeles for prom shopping with my friends," Rory said, "but I'm otherwise free." 

"My brother asked you to prom?" Rosalie sneered. She was in disbelieving shock at the thought of how serious her brother's relationship with the human was getting. 

Rory and Jasper both stiffened uncomfortably while Edward and Emmett stifled their laughter. 

Rory scratched her nose. "Um, I made plans to go with my friends..." 

"Don't worry, he will ask," Alice said knowingly. 

"Alice," Jasper hissed with narrowed golden eyes. 

Rory looked at her with confusion and curiosity. The way she said it caught Rory's attention. 

"On that note, we should go," Jasper said as he led her off. "Come on, sleeping beauty, we have a Spanish test." Rory rolled her eyes but didn't miss the sound of Alice's squeals. 

"Did you see that?" Alice bounced happily. 

"Aw, he called her 'sleeping beauty' like that princess movie you like Rosie," Emmett added as the Cullen's watched their brother hold the hand of a human girl who didn't mind the cold temperature. 

Rosalie watched the human girl sharply. "Her name is Aurora." The comment seemed offhanded but Edward, Alice, and Emmett smiled as it seemed even Rosalie was warming up to the human girl. 

Rory was able to fare off all the questions and interrogation from her friends throughout the day, purposely sticking to Jasper's side because they were too intimidated to approach him. She and Jasper even skipped lunch to study in the library much to his amusement. At the end of the day was when Jessica could no longer hold off and she stubbornly stopped in front of Jasper and Rory on the way to his motorcycle. 

"Hi, Jess," Rory said. 

"Rory, did you forget something?" Jessica asked pointedly. "Port Angeles...?" 

"I didn't forget, Jess," Rory rolled her eyes. "I was just about to find you." 

"Sure." Jessica stood there with her arms crossed. Rory glanced at Jasper and then at Jessica. 

Jasper chuckled lowly, touching the small of Rory's back as he leaned in close to her ear. "I'll see you later." 

"Maybe you will, Hale." Rory grinned. Jasper winked at her as he turned and made his way to his motorcycle. She watched him with a faint smile. 

"God, you two are adorable," Jessica commented begrudgingly. "But you have a lot to tell me. No more avoiding." 

Rory sighed. "I know." It was going to be a long ride. 

Rory followed Jess to her white Mercury where Angela and Bella were waiting. 

"Hi, Rory." Both girls were very amused as they looked at Rory with teasing expressions. 

"Okay, so we're going to follow Bella home so she can drop her car off and we can take mine to Port Angeles," Jess explained as Rory had been MIA all day to her annoyance. She had been itching to get the dirt. 

"Sounds good," Rory said, getting into the passenger seat of the car once everyone filed into either Jessica's car or Bella into her truck. She had attempted to join Bella but Jessica's glare refuted the escape attempt. She glanced back across the lot one last time for a glimpse at the tall, wavy haired blond vampire who had captured her eye and her heart. 

Jess barely waited for the car to start to begin her interrogation. "So, you and Jasper are like official now?" 

"No," Rory answered simply much to Jessica and Angela's disbelief. 

"What?" Angela sputtered. "But he took you to school...on his motorcycle." 

"And you hold hands like ninety percent of the time you two are in the same place," Jessica said aghast. 

"You both skipped lunch together," Angela pointed out, "Where did you go if not a romantic rendezvous?" 

"We studied in the library," Rory answered flippantly. 

"'Studying' is what the kids call it nowadays," Jessica snickered with a disbelievingly mocking tone. "I think someone's lying..." she said in a sing-song voice. 

"I'm not lying," Rory said defensively. "Jasper's not my boyfriend. We're not even going to prom together. We're just friends." Friends who had admitted to liking each other but had made no move to take the next step. 

"Prom isn't for a few weeks," Angela said brightly. "He might still ask you. Or you can ask him, follow your own advice." 

"I'd rather spend prom night with my best friends. Prom doesn't have to be a romantic experience," Rory dismissed their cajoling. 

"Rory, you are the only girl that Jasper Hale, a very, very hot teenage boy, has shown any interest in all the years he's gone to Forks High," Jess pouted at Rory's cool expression. 

"Jasper's more than his looks, you know?" 

"Well, I wouldn't know actually because he has never had a conversation with me before, Rory," Jess rolled her eyes. "It's only you. Just you." 

Rory sighed with a shrug. "Believe whatever you want. We aren't dating." 

"But you want to be," Angela said quietly. 

Rory didn't have a response. Instead, she leaned over and raised the volume level up to a song that kept all of their attention from the topic. Then they arrived at Bella's house, where once Bella came in, the discussion turned to prom. 

The gown boutique in Port Angeles was full of beautiful dresses as Rory expected but was also quite busy with the approaching prom season. The four girls found a spot right in front of the window opening onto the public street where strangers could watch them walk around in the gowns. 

Jessica flounced out of the changing room, with a provocative pose. "I think this halter makes my boobs look big. What do you think, Bella?"

Rory had easily picked out a handful of gowns her size and had begun trying them on. The first two didn't fit her well or looked odd, but the third dress was nice. It was a long chiffon black dress with a swooping v-shaped front with ruffled sleeves and a thigh high slit. She stepped out of the dressing room to show to the other girls. 

"Ooh, that looks fantastic, Jess," Rory complimented her friend at the dusty-rose colored dress she wore. "I like that one better than the white one on you." 

"Thank you," Jess turned to look at Rory and her jaw dropped. "I seriously hate you."

"What?" Rory frowned in confusion.

"You look amazing!" Jessica whined. "You're always so unbelievably gorgeous, ugh." 

Angela stepped out to see what the commotion was about. "She isn't wrong. You have to get that dress!" 

"Imagine the look on Jasper's face once he sees you like this," Jessica giggled. She pulled out her phone and quickly snapshotted a picture of Rory in the dress much to her embarrassment. 

"Jess!" 

Suddenly the girls were interrupted by the obnoxious catcalling coming from a group of rowdy frat boys passing by. They ogled at both Rory and Jessica who were wearing low cut gowns. Rory glared while Jessica embarrassedly turns back to Bella. 

"The store needs to make the dressing room area more private," Rory sniffed in disdain, making her way over to the dressing room to change. "But I really think that's the dress for you, Jess. The halter does you wonders."

The brunette nodded and turned to their quiet friend who had been studying a printed out map. "Bella?"

"It looks great," Bella absently responded, glancing at Jessica's gown briefly. 

Jessica sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "You said that about the last five dresses."

"You're not very good at this, are you?" Angela commented empathetically. 

"Everything okay, Bella?" Rory frowned in concern. Bella was really distracted and out of it. 

Bella shrugged. "Maybe I should just go check out the book store and meet you at the restaurant later," she suggested, standing up from the windowsill. 

Angela's brows furrowed. "You sure?" 

Bella nodded, making her way out of the shop. 

"Wait, Bella!" 

She paused in her stride to see Rory fully dressed and running after her. Rory had quickly purchased the black gown, said her intentions to Jessica and Angela, and had ran as fast as she could down the street outside the shop to find Bella.

"Rory?" 

Rory huffed and panted. "I wasn't just going to let you go to a strange bookstore in a town you barely know by yourself." 

"You don't know this place either," Bella pointed out. 

"Touché," Rory shrugged. "Well, what's the name of the bookstore again?" 

Bella rechecked the paper she had been holding with the directions. "Thunderbird and Whale Bookstore." 

It took the girls a good fifteen minutes to find the bookstore and another thirty minutes browsing the different books that could possibly reveal what the Cullens were. Rory double checked each book Bella mulled over. extensively ensuring it included the myth of vampires until only one book remained. The native man who rang up their purchases (Rory had found a book on native art) rose his brow at Bella's book with wary regard.

Rory and Bella walked down the sidewalk, mindlessly chattering about the contents of Bella's book until they were made keenly aware of the sounds of footsteps echoing behind them. It didn't stop. 

(warning)

Rory narrowed her eyes as they both glanced behind them to find no one. She didn't have a good feeling about this. She pulled out her phone, only to see a dead screen much to her frustration. Shit, shit, shit. 

"I'm sure our friends are anxiously waiting for our arrival. It's a good thing we're almost about to see them," Rory said in a loud voice, trying to ward off their potential unwanted company. Most rapists and muggers weren't likely to attack if they knew their victims were near to help. Rory wondered if vampires were the same as well. 

Bella blinked in confusion. "What are—"

"We need to get somewhere safe," Rory whispered anxiously reaching out to grab Bella's wrist in case someone, or something, tried to grab either of them. 

The footsteps didn't relent. The constant bubble of anxiety Rory felt inflated as she began to internally panic. But first, she and Bella needed to get back onto the public street. They tried to take a shortcut into an ally, only to see two faceless male figures enter from the opposite side. 

They changed course, cutting across a parking lot only to be intercepted by two men to emerge from the shadows, not vampires, but the frat boys from the dress shop window who were heavily wasted now. They had dark intents in their heavily lidded eyes. Both girls were scared now, breathing quickly and feeling like the world was closing in on them. 

They tried to run the other way only to be stopped by more of the frat boys group. "Hey, where are you running to?" 

"We saw you at the dress shop." One of the frat boys cajoled as his friends cackled. 

Bella turned to her left; two other guys are there. Rory looked to her right where three guys were joking around, but all had a sickly familiar gleam in their eyes. They were cornered. 

"There they are..." One of the guys said, appraising the girls lewdly. 

"How are you guys doing?" One guy said them, trying to get closer. He eyed both girls as evil ideas played in his head. 

"What's up, ladies?" Another joined in. 

Bella grabbed Rory's hand and attempted to shove their way out of the circle. "Whoa! Where are you going?"

Rory blinked dazedly. Everything sounded like she was hearing it from a glass wall. Muffled almost. She tried to numbly push against the wall of drunk men surrounding her and Bella. 

"Where are you going?" 

Rory couldn't breathe. 

Another hummed. "Hang out with us." 

Bella was freaking out. 

Rory felt an incoming panic attack closing in on her. 

Not again. 

Not again. 

Not again. 

"Rory?" She could distantly hear Bella frantically asking her as the men closed in, jostling the girls. 

"What's the problem?" One frowned in false concern. 

"Stay away from us," Rory whispered. 

One bravely reached out for Bella's arm. "You're pretty." 

She jerked it out and tried to shove more of them away. "Don't touch me."

"Your friend's even prettier," Another, who wore a baseball cap, commented lustily eyeing Rory who was looking around dazedly, like she was in another place. He crudely pulled the numb Rory away as two boys blocked Bella from getting to her. 

"Rory!" 

She numbly looked at Bella, mouthing, "You'll be okay." 

"No!" Bella kept fighting, pushing and shoving. 

Another guy grabbed Rory from behind as baseball cap ran his hands down Rory's body. "You looked delicious in that dress earlier." 

The shiny lights suddenly became brighter as a loud screech interrupted the attack. A silver Volvo hastily stopped, sending a few of the men jumping out of the way. Rory and Bella stared with wide eyes as two figures leaped out of the car with loud, terrifying growls.


	12. NOT THE FIRST TIME

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning; content referring to sexual assault and attempted sexual assault is discussed. please feel free to skip this chapter if those topics trigger anything and also message me if any of you need to talk. 
> 
> a summary will be added at the end author’s notes

FURIOUS GROWLS and snarls rumbled from the pair of vampires who had arrived to the rescue. 

A blur of something pale and very fast unexpectedly yanked the man off of Rory, throwing him across the parking lot until a loud, sickening crunch was heard. Bella and Rory gasped at the terrifying display of inhuman strength and speed. Even in the dim lighting, Rory could see something dark liquid pooling from under the man's body. 

"Jasper!" Edward hissed, a mixture of shock and anger twisted his angelic features as the scent of fresh blood reached him. The only thing holding him back from succumbing to the thirst was the wide-eyed brunette clutching onto her friend. 

Jasper didn't seem to notice the blood despite having the worse control of his family members over his thirst; in that moment, his thoughts were focused on one thing and one thing only—protecting Rory. 

The other frat boys stopped and stared in shock, looking from the vicious creature to the unmoving body of their friend. The tall figure looked almost demonic as he glowered at the men whose inebriated states had quickly sobered with the change in prey. His body was wired and ready to pounce, standing between Rory and the men defensively. 

Jasper was absolutely frightening.

"What's wrong with him?" 

"What the fuck?" 

The sobering up frat boys were becoming more frightened by the second as Edward and Jasper glowered and growled at them until they backed off. Jasper didn't even think of using his abilities to control the crowd through emotions, his own fury blazed through all bit of sense. The scent of blood worsened but neither Jasper nor Edward made any move to succumb to the frenzy.

Snapping out from her panic attack, Rory's attention was drawn to the increasingly dire and dangerous situation growing around them. Two raging vampires against a group of drunken frat boys. Even she could smell the sharp metallic scent of blood in the air and by the look on Jasper's face, he was keenly aware of it as well. 

"Get in the car," Edward gritted out, his eyes black with thirst and anger. 

Bella tried to grab Rory, who only shook her head and gestured for Bella to get into the car. "Go!" Rory ordered, shoving her purse—miraculously she hadn't dropped it—that held her purchases into Bella's arm. Sensing Rory had a good reason she couldn't yet fathom, Bella followed suit and climbed into the passenger seat of Edward's Volvo. 

"Rory," Edward snapped warningly. Rory glanced at him without moving her head. 

"No. Not without making sure he's not going to lose control," Rory bit back, not moving but keeping her gaze trained on Jasper, who had refused to stop growling and hissing at the shocked men, his lips curled over his bared teeth. His body was tensed and coiled like a snake about to strike it's paralyzed prey. It was absolutely primal. 

Rory surveyed her options. Edward was about to lose it. Bella was freaking out. Jasper was on the brink. Her biggest concern was Jasper. Rory knew she was the only one that could calm him down. 

Edward's head snapped to her as he caught onto her thoughts in the chaos. "He'll kill you," he hissed. 

Rory didn't question how Edward knew her plan. "No he won't," she retorted instead. 

She saw the way Jasper was glowering at the group of men slowly backing away in attempt to get away. "But he will kill the rest if I leave him. I can handle this. Take care of Bella." 

Both glanced back at the wide eyed and shaken brunette who stared at them from inside the car. Rory suddenly feared for Bella's life—should she be trusting a hungry vampire to be alone and unguarded with her best friend who had no clue of what he really was? She had to. And if Edward harmed her—Rory would make him regret it. She glanced back to the bronze-haired vampire who looked as though he understood her thoughts. 

"I won't hurt her," Edward said stiffly, still ignoring the nearby blood. 

"You better not." 

Edward reluctantly retreated to his car, his concern for Bella outweighing his distrust of Rory's plan and Jasper's control. Edward glared at the men one last time, gave Rory an unsure look, and then got behind the steering wheel, where he slammed on the gas to further scare off the men before roughly backing away and madly driving off.

By that point, the drunken group of frat boys were scrambling for an exit, beyond terrified of the blond avenging vampire Rory stood behind. Jasper kept growling at them, showing his dominance while making no move to give chase. He seemed to be attempting to regain his control.

"Jasper," Rory whispered. While she was certain Jasper would never hurt her intentionally, he was still a vampire. One wrong move...Rory had to be careful, precise in her next actions. 

Rory cautiously walked forward, careful not to make any sudden movements, until she was directly behind Jasper, close enough for his cold temperature and hypnotizing scent to wash over her. She tentatively wrapped herself around him, winding her shivering arm around his waist and delicately holding the muscular shoulder on her side until she hugged him like a koala, hoping she could distract him from attacking. 

His attention turned on her, her flowery homelike scent overpowering the tempestuous scent of fresh blood. His hard, terrifying gaze softened immediately as he looked down at Rory's careful expression. The black pools of his eyes receded into a shimmering honey tinted onyx shade. He was back in his right mind again. 

By now, the crew of attackers had almost all disappeared, some lingered behind attempting to bring the guy Jasper threw with them. 

Rory breathed out in relief, successfully calming him down. His eyes flickered to the bloody body lying across the lot and his once furious gaze turned hungry, thirsty. His throat burned. 

As his head grew more clear, less clouded by indescribable fury, the scent of blood, fresh from the wound of the man whose heart was barely beating, filled his senses, threatening to cost him his barely attained grasp on control. 

Rory gulped. "We need to get out of here." She was suddenly hit with the harsh reality of her attack and she shuddered at the thought of what would've happened without Jasper and Edward showing up. 

Jasper jerked his head into a nod, not daring to waste his breath as the burn at the back of his throat worsened the longer he was in the vicinity of the spilled blood. 

All he could think about besides the blood was Rory. She held him unafraid of the consequences for there were none in reality. No part of him, no matter how primal or carnal, could attack Rory now even if he tried. But they needed to get far away and fast. 

Jasper didn't say a word as he picked Rory up—much to her surprise as he held her with one arm under her legs and the other firmly supporting her back. Jasper ran straight into the forest at an inhuman speed. 

Rory hadn't really imagined how it would feel to run—or be carried—at the speed of a vampire but she didn't expect the rush of adrenaline to flood her body so much that she didn't even mind the super speed. He was like an indestructible bullet. Many times she thought Jasper would collide into a tree or something but it never happened. The whole experience was surreal, the world around her became a blur of darkness and Jasper's pale, perfect white face was all she could see. 

He was so focused on keeping himself from going back to finish them that it took Rory a few tugs of his sleeve until he came to a full and effortless stop. He looked down to see Rory in his arms staring at him with concern and worry. They were now far away from the parking lot and had stopped about halfway to Forks. He set her down carefully and Rory grabbed onto the nearest tree to steady herself and catch her breath from the change at being carried at intense high speeds. 

Now surrounded by nothing but Rory and the watchful trees, Jasper finally could manage a hold on his emotions. Not the drunken men or Bella Swan's fear or Edward's fury, but Jasper's alone. It didn't take long for him to finally grasp onto the severity of what just happened. He froze instantly. He didn't care that he had almost completely broken that repulsive drunk, or uncontrollably growled like a mindless beast. But Rory was certainly scared by the wide-eyed look and much too pale complexion. She was shivering. He backed away from her suddenly. 

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice shaky but she reached out for him. 

Jasper glanced at her hand tightly grabbing the collar of his coat and unfurled her grip until he had backed away from her and leaned onto the trunk of a tree. His eyes shut as his emotions reigned over him. 

Rory was undoubtedly confused by his actions. She repeated her question at his guarded disposition, refusing to allow him to put distance between them as she cornered him against the tree, intent on getting to the bottom of his inner most conflict. "Jasper." 

One word from Rory held both her questions and her compassion.

He stared down at his feet, his waves hung over his eyes. His voice was dry and unfamiliarly cold. "I'm a monster." 

He didn't react when she slid her hand up his jaw and held his cheek. "Jasper? What are you talking about?" He finally met her worried gaze with tortured dark eyes. 

"I lost control, I could've seriously hurt you or worse." He sounded agonized at the close possibility. "I shouldn't have lost control." 

"You saved us. You stopped them from hurting Bella and I." Her voice cracked as she squeezed her eyes shut. "You saved me from reliving the worst experience of my life." 

His head shot up. "Reliving?" he asked in a fearful whisper. 

Rory swallowed hard. No one in Forks knew her secret—the truth behind the Aden's reason for moving across the country in the middle of the school year. 

His voice was pained as he cupped her fragile face. "Rory, look at me. What did you mean by reliving?" She couldn't mean—no. 

Not his Rory. 

Jasper forgot all about his own turmoil to focus on the crack of darkness in Rory's facade. He knew she had been hiding something, she never discussed her past with him or anyone else but Jasper chokingly realized it was a past of the darkest nature indeed. The worst thing was that he knew what she meant by her slip, but he hoped to any god out there that he was wrong. 

"It happened last February." 

Those seemingly innocuous four words killed him. He couldn't bare it anymore. He could hear her heart beat faster than ever. The pain in her voice, a vulnerability he'd never acquainted with her before in the past two months of knowing her, paralyzed him. 

"Stop," Jasper pleaded, his thumbs rubbed circles on her pale cheeks. "Not here. You don't have to..."

Rory kept her eyes squeezed tight, a few tears escaping. "Okay," she exhaled softly. "Later." 

Jasper nodded unsurely. He closed the small distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, careful of his strength, but folding himself over her perfectly like their bodies were always meant to fit together. They didn't say another word as she clutched onto him. The heartbreakingly fragile moment was disrupted a few minutes later by a buzzing coming from Jasper's front pocket of his jeans.

He made motion to end the phone call but Rory shook her head. What if it was Bella who was with Edward? Rory stepped back but he winded one arm around her waist, firmly keeping her pressed at his side.

He sighed and answered with a short "Hello" and then a "Yes" right after, glancing at Rory. 

Rory looked at him questionably. 

His expression changed a few seconds later. "I thought Alice said they changed paths." 

"Not too long ago." 

He suddenly froze, looked around the forest sharply, muttered something Rory couldn't decipher and then hung up. 

"Jasper?" Rory tilted her head. 

"We have to go." He clenched his jaw. "Now." 

He didn't give Rory much warning before he lifted her up once more and ran faster than even before. All she could do was close her eyes shut to ease the dizziness his supernatural speed came with. 

Something happened. 

Something bad. 

A few minutes later, Rory felt them stop once more. Jasper put her down and she blinked in surprise at their destination. They were in front of her house. She held onto him to steady her once more for a couple of minutes. As soon as her heart and breathing slowed to a normal pace, she was being promptly guided to her front door. 

She looked at Jasper as he led them to the front door. He was glancing around as if he was paranoid something had followed them. Her mother wasn't home yet, but Rory was only half concerned. Rory opened the door to the empty house and looked at Jasper who hadn't spoken yet once they were inside her room. 

"Jasper, what's going on?" Rory prodded impatiently. 

"Are you aware of the recent string of animal attacks in the surrounding counties?" Jasper questioned instead.

"Yeah. Everyone's been telling me to stay away from the woods," she said guiltily. "What does that have to do with the phone call?" 

"That was Edward. He was taking Bella home when they ran into Carlisle at the police department," he sighed. "Waylon Forge was found in a boat out near his place." 

"The guy from the diner?" Rory vaguely remembered the kind and funny man who always greeted her and her mother when they would eat out. "Is he...dead?" 

"Killed." Jasper grimaced. "It wasn't an animal attack." 

Rory sat on her bed, her mind running through with endless thoughts. "I assume none of your 'vegetarian' vampire family members have gone rouge."

He shook his head shortly. "We've been keeping an eye on the situation. Alice saw them go west so we thought Forks was safe. They won't stay in Forks for too long though, nomads tend to only feed once or twice in an area. But I wanted you out of the woods just in case. Too much has already happened tonight." 

Rory had several questions but none were expelled. Her fright she had stemmed suddenly couldn't be held back any more as she shuddered and held her head in her hands, looking down. 

"Are you scared?" Jasper was suddenly kneeling in front of her, looking deeply in her eyes once she was breathing normally again. 

Rory shook her head. "I know you'll protect me." She held his hand in her lap. 

"Always." Jasper whispered, his sweet breath fanning over her. "I wish I knew you sooner. I wish I could have protected you when..." His words trailed off but Rory knew 'later' was now. Jasper froze, "You don't have to—"

"—no." She disagreed quietly. "I need to tell you. After tonight," her voice wavered, "I just need to. Okay?"

Jasper solemnly nodded in understanding. He got up and sat next to her on her bed. 

"He was my boyfriend. Or he was supposed to be." Rory looked down at her lap darkly. "I partied a lot back then. My father had just left us. My mom was working to make ends meet. My sister—" her voice cracked once more while Jasper frowned. He never realized she had a sister. "—was only fifteen." 

Then, Jasper realized everything he assumed about Rory's past was wrong. 

Rory wasn't raped. 

Her sister was. 

"I was so stupid. It was my fault. It was my fault," Rory whispered. "I convinced her to come with me to a party at his house—mom didn't want me going out without Lu anymore. Lu really didn't want to come—she had a soccer game the next day. I got drunk and high and left my baby sister because I was so damn selfish. She ran into Fred, the only person she knew at the party. I guess she thought she could trust him. Fuck, we all did." Rory sniffed, her eyes wet and puffy. 

"He got her into a bedroom. Everyone was too fucked up to notice. Somehow, I finally realized I had left my baby sister all alone and went to find her. Fred was on top of her. She was fighting so hard." Her eyes were suddenly ablaze with fury. "I screamed and screamed until he ran out of the room. All I could think about was getting to the hospital. I don't know why I got in the fucking car. I knew I shouldn't have—I was barely sober. We were both crying. I should've stopped driving. Should've called our mom." 

Rory was breathing fast now, her tears flooding her face. Jasper desperately wished he could alleviate her pain but all he could do was hold her hands. 

"Next thing I knew, the car flipped over. I woke up in a hospital room. Luna was gone," Rory finished with a heartbreaking sob. "It was my fault. Everything was my fault." 

"Rory," Jasper breathed out, wrapping an arm around her and holding her cheek with the other hand, rubbing circles to sooth her. "It wasn't your fault."

"It was," Rory insisted with a cry. "I told the doctors, my mother, the police; I told them what happened and nothing was done. My boyfriend got away with raping my baby sister. And I killed her." 

"No," Jasper refuted sharply. "You didn't kill your sister and it wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault, sweetheart," he whispered into her hair as he held her. He would hold her as long as he needed him to. His eyes burned with unshed venom tears as his incorporable heart ached with the pain and grief he felt hearing Rory's tragedy. 

The impalpable steel dam Rory had stored every emotion burst and crashed into Rory. All Jasper could do was hold her gently as she cried uncontrollably into his shoulder—every feeling she had suppressed since the death of her sister poured out of her dark heart. Jasper didn't need his empath abilities to know she needed to feel safe and comforted and understood. 

Eventually her guilt-ridden tears subsided into hiccups and sniffles. They were both quiet.

Rory was the first to break the tranquil silence. 

"That's why when those men were trying to hurt us earlier, I distracted them from touching Bella. I couldn't watch it happen to her. Not again." Rory hadn't realized until that night that she viewed Bella like a sister. She was the closest thing to it at least, which made it worst when the men cornered them. Her immediate instinct was to protect Bella in the way she couldn't protect her dead sister. 

Jasper felt angry at her self-sacrifice, but he understood too. He simply sighed and held her closer. "It won't ever happen again. Not as long as I'm on this earth. No matter what. I'll always protect you, Rory," he promised. 

"Even when I'm old and gray?" 

Jasper hadn't given thought to Rory's unmistakable mortality, but if she chose not to become a vampire, it wouldn't change his choice. She was it. 

He nodded. "Even then." 

Rory unexpectedly yawned loudly. Her eyes were puffy and tired. Her body ached with exhaustion and faint bruising from the rough handling of her attackers. 

"You need to rest, sleeping beauty," Jasper inhaled her sweet scent that still burned his throat but didn't make him want to kill her. 

Rory pursed her lips. "I have to change." 

"Okay." Jasper nodded. "Goodnight then." He untangled himself from her too fast for her to respond. He tried to stand but her hand has shot out and grasped his sleeve. He looked back at her. 

"I didn't say for you to go," she said shyly. 

He blinked. "Oh." 

"Wait here." Rory wobbly stood from the bed and walked over to her closet where she grabbed the essential items. She debated forgoing pajama bottoms as she usually did, but the knowledge that Jasper was in her bed had her grabbing the most comfortable sweatpants in her drawers...and the nicest pair of lingerie. You never know. 

She tried not to look too obvious as she bundled the bunch of clothes in her arm and darted out of the room to the next door bathroom. She quickly changed then brushed her teeth, washed her face and embarrassingly used the toilet because she knew Jasper could hear everything she was doing on full volume. 

She took a few minutes to breath and recover from the night's events by herself. She practiced her breathing techniques and then walked back into her bedroom where Jasper sat in the exact same position she had left him in. Not even a hair out of place. He was utterly perfect. 

She glanced down at her sleeping wear of a plain black camisole and sweatpants. The intention her lingerie suggested colored her cheeks and inappropriate thoughts raced through her mind the longer she stared at him. 

"Are you hungry?" 

She blinked twice before answering, scowling at her initial dirty thoughts, and shaking her head to answer the unsuspecting vampire in her bed. 

"Food is the last thing on my mind," Rory said with a melancholic grimace. "I just want to sleep." 

"Are you...hungry?" she hesitantly asked. "Or would it be thirsty?"

Although his eyes were dark and barely amber, the urge to feed was the last thing on his mind right now. "No," he answered simply. 

"Good." 

Jasper seemed hesitant as she drew near. Was he supposed to go now? He had to admit he had no clue what to do. Before he could awkwardly get off the bed, Rory had crawled directly into his lap. _Oh_. 

"Can you please hold me?" she whispered, her lips brushing against his exposed neck. 

He swallowed the pool of venom that had gathered in his mouth. She was vulnerable in his arms and he wasn't about to take advantage of her in her state. "Won't you be uncomfortable?" 

Rory hummed thoughtfully. "You're right." Jasper breathed a sigh a relief. "It's better if we're under the covers." 

_ FML.  _

Jasper blinked as Rory crawled over to the other side of the bed and slid under the covers. She looked at him expectantly and he couldn't deny her as he kicked off his boots and lied next to her, keeping himself above the covers and a layer between the warm body that his craved. 

Rory merely raised an eyebrow. 

"You'll freeze," Jasper said defensive of his actions. 

"Good thing I have a blanket." Rory rolled over until her head and arm rested on his chest and her blanket covered leg was folded over his. Half of her body was essentially on top of his much to his surprise. 

He still felt like he was intruding whilst feeling perfectly content being wrapped by her body. The situation was entirely new to him. He hadn't even done this in his life as a human, it was considered highly improper. Not to mention the warmness of her body was warming parts of his he desperately didn't need being warmed at this time. 

"Are you sure—"

She sighed, her eyes already half closed and her breathing slow with sleepiness. 

"Jasper, I want you to stay." 

And so Jasper stayed and held her close to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edward and jasper save bella and rory from the assaulters. jasper is pissed, nearly killing a dude, and rory is able to calm him. from then, jasper and her leave port angeles together (he carries her & runs). rory opens up about her past and invites him to stay the night (nothing happens). she falls asleep in his arms.


End file.
